NAME THE BABY BELUGA!
One-of-a-kind contest opportunity to find the perfect baby beluga name
Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Aquarium invites you to help name our baby beluga! Canadians are invited to submit a name suggestion at visitvanaqua.org from November 9 to 22. The name should reflect the Arctic origin of beluga whales and honour Inuit culture and language.
A judging panel will shortlist five name suggestions, then Aquarium members will have the unique chance to vote on their favourite. On December 2nd, we’ll announce the name of the baby beluga! To get in on the voting action, please contact membership@vanaqua.org or call 604-659-3526.
The lucky person who suggests the winning name wins the grand prize: A one-of-a-kind baby beluga encounter, plus an annual family membership to the Vancouver Aquarium and a $200 gift certificate for the Gift Shop at the Aquarium. Four secondary prizes including family memberships or animal encounters will be awarded to the remaining shortlisted entries.
The best way to choose a name is to get to know the baby beluga - see her anytime on the Aquarium’s 24-hour Beluga Cam at www.vanaqua.org/belugacam. We’ve also created an amazing video of the baby beluga’s life so far to help you get to know her. You’ll find that video on our Name The Baby Beluga contest page at visitvanaqua.org
To get you started, here is some background on the Aquarium’s other belugas:
- Aurora, the baby beluga’s mother, is named after the aurora borealis, the famous northern lights of her native Arctic.
- Imaq (EE-mak), the baby beluga daddy, means “the sea” in Inuktitut.
- Qila (KEE-lah) is short for qilalugaq qualuqtaq meaning “beluga” in Inuktitut.
Our newest baby beluga came into this world on June 7, 2009 at 3:39pm. Her mother is the Aquarium’s 21-year-old beluga Aurora. They live in the Canada’s Arctic habitat with two other belugas, 14-year-old Qila and 1-year-old Tiqa.
About Inuit
A large majority of the people who live in Canada’s Arctic are Inuit. They live in 53 communities across Canada’s Arctic: the Inuvialuit region of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Nunavik region of northern Quebec and the Nunatsiavut region in northern Labrador. Thousands of other Canadians have also made the Arctic their home.
About Inuit Language of Inuktitut
Inuit means “the people” in Inuktitut. It is their traditional oral language and their official language. For thousands of years, Inuit from Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Siberia have used Inuktitut and its many regional dialects to pass stories and legends from generation to generation. Inuktitut syllabary – symbols that represent words or syllables – is used mainly in Canada, especially in Nunavut and Nunavik. The Latin alphabet is used in other parts of Canada, Alaska and Greenland.
Here are some links to learn more about Inuktitut:
Inuktitut Living Dictionary (http://www.livingdictionary.com)
Translate words from English and French to Inuktitut or vice-versa.
Tusaalanga Inuktitut (http://www.tusaalanga.ca)
Take Inuktitut lessons and see a list of phrases.
Omniglot (http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/inuktitut.php)
See a list of phrases.
About the Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium is a global leader in connecting people to our natural world, and a self-supporting, non-profit association dedicated to effecting the conservation of aquatic life through display and interpretation, conservation practices, education, research, and direct action. Learn more at www.vanaqua.org
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Media Contacts:
Kent Hurl
Public Relations Supervisor
604.659.3752
kent.hurl@vanaqua.org
Helen Lee
Public Relations Coordinator
604.659.3775
helen.lee@vanaqua.org