Endangered: Beluga Whale or White Whale
Beluga whales are one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet and their playful nature is one of their most enduring qualities about them. The Belugas are a testament to the fact that what we do in our lives has a direct effect on an animal even way up in the Artic. One of the belugas main threats is environmental pollution and what we do in our lives has a direct correlation to the survival of the belugas.
If humans would be more mindful and think about more than themselves we can make the beluga population rise.
Size: Adult beluga males (3.65 to 4.25 metres and 450 to 1000 kilograms) are larger than females (3.05 to 3.65 metres and 250 to 700 kilograms). Newborn calves measure about 1.5 metres and weigh 50-80 kilograms at birth
Numbers: It is roughly estimated that between 72,000 and 144,000 belugas live in Canadian waters
Behavior: Belugas whales search for food on the seabed at depths of up to 1,000 feet. They congregate and travel in groups from 2-3 to as many as several hundred. Some are migratory within their limited range while others remain residents of a
Belugas are very social animals and very vocal communicators that employ a diversified language of clicks, whistles, and clangs. Belugas can also mimic a variety of other sounds and generally live together in small groups known as pods.
Habitat and Range: Belugas are found in arctic and subarctic waters along the northern coasts of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Norway and Greenland. These animals are distributed in the western Arctic (Beaufort Sea), high Arctic (Lancaster Sound, Baffin Bay), eastern Arctic (Cumberland Sound and southeast Baffin, Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay) and in the St. Lawrence Estuary
Food: Feed mainly on fish, including salmon, eulachon, tomcod, smelt, char, rainbow sole, whitefish, saffron cod and arctic cod, herring, shrimp, mussels octopus and cephalopods (squid and octopus).
Lifespan: 35+ years
Threats: Unregulated hunting has been in the main cause of their decline. Despite stringent hunting controls the beluga whale population has not rebounded as expected.
Because belugas congregate in river estuaries, human caused pollution is proving to be another significant danger to their health. Other threats include disease, contaminants, shipping vessel traffic, noise (including seismic testing), prey declines, predators (such as the killer whale) and human-induced habitat changes.
Other factors that have threatened the beluga include dredging, shipping, industrial activity and environmental pollution have also resulted in a decline in habitat quality and contamination of food supply.
Frequent collisions with boats and exposure to significantly higher numbers of oil spills resulting from high levels of traffic also affect the beluga through commercial and recreational traffic.
Adopt a Beluga
We invite you to join the Aquarium family by becoming an Aquadopt parent. Aquadopt parents are key in supporting the Aquarium’s ongoing conservation and education efforts.
Link for live beluga whale cam
http://www.vanaqua.org/belugacam/
