https://apnews.com/4e5fce0297874aed8a0511892e53dc63

KENAI, Alaska (AP) — Cook Inlet beluga whales are swimming up the Kenai River earlier in the year and in greater numbers than previously estimated, according to new monitoring of the endangered species.

Kim Ovitz, a fellow in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Sea Grant program, in mid-March began recording beluga activity from six sites between the Kenai beach and Cunningham Park at river Mile 6.5, the Peninsula Clarion reported .