Where do belugas live?

• Belugas live in the Arctic and sub-Arctic waters of the world. The southern-most beluga population inhabits the St. Lawrence River estuary of Canada. It is a remnant population, separated from the other populations during the last Ice Age.
• Most groups of belugas move from open ocean to coastal areas in response to the seasonal freezing and thawing of sea ice. As the ice breaks up in the spring, belugas move shoreward into newly opened waterways. Belugas often enter rivers and estuaries where the water temperature is higher and the salinity is lower than that of the ocean. These environmental conditions trigger a molt of the top layers of a beluga’s skin.

Do belugas live in groups?

• In the summer, thousands of belugas gather in estuaries. They form nursing groups of females and calves, occasionally with juveniles in attendance. Pods of adult males remain apart from the females and their calves.
• Since scientists are only able to observe wild belugas during the summer, they still do not know what happens to the social groupings in the winter.

How do belugas communicate?

• Sound is an effective means of communication for belugas because it travels long distances through water.
• Belugas communicate with a wide range of sounds: clicks, chirps, grunts, squeals, screeches and whistles.
• Belugas make such an array of sounds that nineteenth century sailors and explorers of the high Arctic named them “sea canaries.”
• In her studies on the Vancouver Aquarium’s belugas, researcher Valeria Vergara has found that baby belugas aren’t born with all their sounds – they have to learn them from their social group, just like baby humans!

How do belugas stay warm in icy Arctic waters?

• They are well insulated. Belugas have an insulating layer of blubber that is usually 10-15 cm thick! The thickness of the blubber layer varies with the season and the water temperature.
• Calves are born with only 2.5 cm of blubber, but they gain weight quickly while nursing on rich milk which ranges in fat content from 15-40 percent.
  

Are belugas born white?

• No. Belugas are a brownish-grey colour when they are born and turn slate grey within a few weeks. As belugas age, their skin loses pigment cells which causes it to turn white. Only the rims of their pectoral flippers and tail flukes retain their original grey shade.
• Some Canadian researchers use the Kodak grey scale to describe the colour of belugas, but there is too much variation in the rate at which the belugas turn white for colour to be a reliable indicator of age.

Do belugas have predators?

• Yes. Killer whales, polar bears and Greenland sharks eat belugas. Ice can be a shelter from these predators; killer whales, with their tall dorsal fins, usually don’t follow belugas beneath the ice pack. But ice can be dangerous too! Belugas can get trapped under ice without a breathing hole.
• Humans also hunt belugas for food.

What do belugas eat?

• Belugas have a diverse diet. They eat capelin, young salmon, arctic cod, herring, smelt, flounder, shrimp, snails, crabs and worms. They forage for food on the underside of sea ice, on the ocean floor and throughout the water column (usually to 1000 m).
  

How do belugas find their food?

• Belugas use sound to find their food. They emit clicks from their nasal passages. These clicks travel through water and bounce off objects including ice, food or the ocean floor. Belugas listen for the echoes of these clicks to determine where their food is located.
  

Are belugas endangered?

• Yes... and no.... Of seven Canadian beluga populations, two are listed as endangered, inhabiting eastern Hudson Bay, and Ungava Bay, two as threatened, inhabiting Cumberland Bay and St. Lawrence River estuary, and two as “ of special concern”, inhabiting the eastern high Arctic including Baffin Bay and western Hudson Bay. Only the eastern Beaufort Sea population is not at risk.
• The main human threats faced by belugas are hunting, and, in the case of the St Lawrence population, contaminants. The total number in Canadian waters is estimated at 86,500.

Key Facts:

• Sexual maturity: males - 7-9 years; females - about five years.
• Gestation: 14-16 months.
• Weaned at: 20-24 months.
• Calving: on average every three years, in the late spring and early summer.
• Length: males - 4-5 m; females - 3-4 m; calves - 1.5 m.
• Weight: males - 1,500 kg; females - 1,350 kg; calves - 53 -70 kg.
  

Did you know?

• Belugas have an excellent sense of hearing; their ability to echolocate appears to be even better than that of a bottlenose dolphin!
• Unlike most whales, some belugas enter rivers during the summer.
• As much as 40 percent of a beluga’s body weight is blubber.
• A beluga can nod and turn its head because, unlike most whales, its seven neck vertebrae are not fused.
• Belugas play with food, driftwood and air bubbles.
• Belugas can dive to at least 800 metres.
  

Who are the Aquarium’s belugas?

• "Kavna" is a 38-year-old female beluga who is approximately 3.8 metres in length and weighs about 850 kg.
• "Imaq" is the only male beluga, he's a bit heavier at about 1350 kg and 3.9 metres long. Imaq is about 19 years old.
• "Aurora", a 19-year-old female, weighs approximately 800 kg and is 3.4 metres in length. Aurora is Qila’s mother.
• "Qila" is 12 years old. She is now at least 3.5 metres long and approx. 800 kgs in weight.

References:

1. American Cetacean Society. Beluga Whale Fact Sheet. (http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/BelugaWhale.htm)
2. Beland, Pierre. 1996. Beluga: A Farewell to Whales. New York: Lyons Press.
3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. 2006. Underwater World: The Beluga. (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/zone/underwater_sous-marin/beluga/beluga_e.htm).
4. Norris, Kenneth S. 1994. “Beluga: White Whale of the North.” National Geographic. 185(6): pp. 2 - 31.
5. Paine, Stephanie. The Nature of Arctic Whales: Belugas, Bowheads and Narwhals. 1995. Greystone Books.
   

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