Belukha

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The beluga whale is a rare species of toothed whale and one of the largest mammals on Earth. It can be easily distinguished by its unique coloring and body shape. Born blue or light gray, the beluga whale turns white at puberty. The magnificent head looks very similar to a dolphin with a characteristic smile and an intelligent, inquisitive look. The absence of a dorsal fin and a movable head give the impression of a swaddled person.

Origin of the species and description

Photo: Belukha

The name Delphinapterus leucas comes from the Greek "delphis" - dolphin. "Apterus" literally translates to without a wing, which immediately indicates the beluga whale's lack of a noticeable dorsal fin. The species name "leucas" comes from the Greek "leucos" - white.

According to the phylum, Delphinapterus leucas belongs to the highest chordates. This oceanic mammal of the cetacean order belongs to the narwhal family. The only representative of the Belukha genus is (Delphinapterus de Lacépède, 1804).

Video: Belukha

The first descriptions of the beluga whale were created towards the end of the 18th century. Researcher Peter Pallas, while in Russia, heard about an unusual animal and recorded eyewitness accounts. Subsequently, during a visit to the Gulf of Ob, the naturalist was lucky enough to personally see and describe in detail a white whale in 1776. The animal was included and classified in animal reference books in 1804.

The beluga whale is considered a real find for biologists of all countries and is still considered an incompletely studied animal. Disputes about the unity of the white whale species arose in the mid-twentieth century. Some biologists tried to divide the toothed whale into species, while others insisted on uniform standardization.

Hypotheses about the origin of the species and debates about the structure of the animal’s genus raged until the beginning of the 21st century. Today, agreement has been reached on the issue of species membership. The white whale is defined by the one and only species of beluga whale.

Interesting fact: Scientists believe that the first whales descended from terrestrial mammals that returned to the water 55-60 million years ago. The first representatives of the narwhal family appeared later - 9-10 million years ago in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean.

Beluga whale or dolphin?

Now you know everything about this sea creature. But the question remains open as to whether the beluga is a whale or a dolphin. People call it nothing more than a polar or white dolphin. This name arose due to the appearance and habitat of the animal. But in a biological sense, the beluga whale belongs to the order of whales, and the dolphin can be called its cousin. The evolutionary paths of their ancestors diverged several million years ago. Therefore, it is more correct to say that a beluga whale is a whale, not a dolphin.

Appearance and features

Photo: Beluga mammal

The beluga whale is called the ocean dolphin. A beautiful small head with a characteristic raised appendage, an elongated nose and a “smiling” mouth unmistakably identifies the whale as a relative of dolphins. The beluga whale's movable head distinguishes it from other relatives in the order. This feature was preserved in the species thanks to the vertebrae, which were not fused, like in other representatives of cetaceans.

Thanks to this feature, the toothed whale has outwardly pronounced shoulders, a wide chest and a body tapering towards the tail. The skin is smooth, glossy, elastic. The body length of an adult whale reaches 6 meters. The beluga whale has disproportionately small front fins compared to its body. Their length is 1% of the total body length - 60 cm, their width is 30 cm. Tiny flippers are compensated by the width of the tail. Its span is a meter, and sometimes more.

The anatomical and physiological characteristics of the whale are adapted to life in the Arctic. The weight of an adult male can vary from 1600 to 2000 kilograms. A large percentage of the weight is subcutaneous fat. In white whales it can reach half of their body weight, while in other whales it is only 20%.

Animals have well-developed hearing. The unique properties of echolocation allow the beluga whale to find breathing holes under the ice cover of the ocean. The white whale's graceful jaw contains 30 to 40 teeth. They have a wedge-shaped shape, which occurs due to the friction of teeth against each other. This is due to the whale's oblique bite. Slightly extended jaws and forward-sloping teeth allow the beluga whale to bite off its prey.

These whales are slow swimmers. The speed ranges from 3 to 9 km per hour. However, a beluga whale can reach a maximum speed of 22 km per hour and maintain it for 15 minutes. They have good maneuverability. They can move both forward and backward.

They enter shallow water when the water barely covers the body. Usually beluga whales do not dive very deep, about 20 meters. However, they are capable of diving to extreme depths. Under experimental conditions, a trained beluga whale easily made several dives of 400 meters. Another whale dived to 647 meters. A typical dive lasts less than 10 minutes, but they can stay underwater for more than 15 minutes.

Beluga whale breeding

The breeding season, depending on the region where the beluga lives, varies from spring to autumn. Males engage in real fights for females. The duration of pregnancy is 14 months. Offspring appear once every 2-3 years. Mating and childbirth take place in coastal areas with warm water. Usually one cub is born, 140-160 cm in length. Milk feeding lasts 1-2 years.

Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 4-7 years, males at 7-9 years. A beluga whale grows up to 9-11 years of age. After 20 years, females stop giving birth. Life expectancy is 32-40 years.

Where does the beluga whale live?

Photo: Beluga whale

The toothed whale lives in northern waters:

Ocean;
Seas;
Bays;
Fjords.

It enters the shallow waters of the Arctic seas, continuously heated by sunlight. There are cases when beluga whales appear at river mouths. This happens in the summer. Whales feed, communicate and give birth. The water temperature at this time ranges from 8 to 10 degrees Celsius.

Beluga whales are found in the arctic and subarctic oceans of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. There are separate populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Sea of Okhotsk in eastern Russia. Throughout their range there are various populations that occupy distinct areas of the northern oceans.

Beluga whales live in the White and Kara seas. They often visit shallower coastal areas, but can dive several hundred meters in search of food. The toothed whale is found off the coast of Russia, Canada, Greenland and Alaska. Appears in the eastern part of Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay and the St. Lawrence River.

The beluga whale spends the winter months off the coast of Greenland, and with the onset of warmth, it swims to the western shores of the Davis Strait. There is evidence that whales have been seen off the coast of Scotland in the Edinburgh Strait. Until the middle of the last century, the beluga whale entered the large rivers Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur, sometimes rising hundreds of miles upstream.

Beluga whales are most common in the coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, but are also found in subarctic waters. Whales migrate south in large pods when the water begins to freeze.

Population status

The beluga whale is a protected mammal. The population of “white whales” declined greatly in the 18th-19th centuries, when they became the coveted prey of whalers due to their high-quality blubber, tasty tender meat and thick, strong skin. Later, the capture of beluga whales began to be controlled, and currently the number of these animals is, according to rough estimates, 200 thousand individuals. Therefore, there is no obvious threat of extinction of beluga whales, although they suffer greatly due to intensive human development of the Arctic and pollution of the waters of the Arctic Ocean.

What does a beluga whale eat?

Photo: Beluga animal

Beluga whales eat a fairly varied diet. They prey on approximately 100 species, mostly living on the seabed. The beluga whale's diet consists entirely of sea food.

Remains of crustaceans and invertebrates are found in the stomachs of beluga whales:

Diet

The beluga whale is an opportunistic species of mammal. She hunts for any prey that is easiest and fastest to catch. Its feeding habits depend on the subpopulation and the season of the year. Beaufort's white whales may feed on the Arctic Terek, while those found in the Greenland area prey on red fish, northern shrimp and Greenland halibut.

Photo: Pond5

Alaskan subpopulations primarily prefer Pacific salmon. Beluga whales happily hunt capelin, flounder, smelt and gobies. They also feed on invertebrates such as crabs, shrimp, molluscs, sea snails, worms, octopuses, squid, polychaetes and other deep-sea species. These mammals in captivity eat 2.5-3% of their body weight daily, that is, 18.2-27.2 kg of fish.

Typically, the white whale hunts at a depth of 20 to 40 meters. The flexible neck allows for a full range of motion while searching for food on the seabed. Beluga whales often hunt in groups of 4-5 individuals, this makes it easier to drive schools of fish into shallow water and subsequently attack them.

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: Belukha

Beluga whales are herd animals. They gather in groups of several hundred individuals. There are cases when a colony of beluga whales reached more than a thousand mammals. Beluga whales need air. Whales spend about 10% of their time on the surface.

The whale has well-developed communication abilities. Beluga whales communicate in high frequencies and use echolocation. The sounds produced are harsh and loud. They resemble the calls of birds. For this reason, beluga whales were nicknamed “sea canaries.” Their voices sound like chirps, whistles and screams. The toothed whale is considered one of the loudest in its biological order. It uses vocals during play, mating and communication.

Beluga whales also use body language to communicate and communicate. They give signals, grind their teeth, persistently swim around their relatives, in every possible way attracting attention to themselves or the object that interests them.

Biologists have proven that beluga whales use communication when raising their offspring. They care for, herd and protect their young. In order to protect their offspring, they go to the mouths of large rivers, where they spend up to several weeks. During this time, they molt and raise their young.

White whales are very curious animals, possessing a lively mind and very smart. I enter into communication with people. They accompany ships, for which they sometimes pay with their lives.

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: Beluga calf

Mating occurs between February and May. Males attract the attention of females by flirting, racing, playing and diving. At the same time, they make loud sounds, clicking and whistling. In the fight for females, males demonstrate their strength and superiority to their rivals. Males use tail slaps in the water, head shaking, sharp intimidating sounds and body language. They cut off the opponent with a sharp tilt of the body, block the road and demonstrate in every possible way that the territory is closed.

The decision to mate is made by the female. The caress of white whales is a beautiful sight. The couple plays, swims synchronously and touches their bodies. Offspring appear between March and September. Pregnancy lasts 400-420 days. Zoologists are confident that female white whales are capable of slowing down the gestation and birth of their calves. This assumption is made on the basis that births in the group occur almost at the same time. Since the process of conception is difficult to synchronize, the theory of fetal growth inhibition has arisen.

Newborn white whale calves weigh about 80 kilograms. The color of the babies is blue or gray. Calves stay with their mother for at least two years. All this time they are fed with milk. Lactation in a whale lasts from 1.5 to 2 years. Newborn babies are between two females: a mother and a teenage nanny. The cub is looked after, protected and lifted for a breath of air.

Whales reach sexual maturity at 4-7 years. Their maximum lifespan is 50 years. It is believed that females live on average up to 32 years, males up to 40.

Interesting Facts

Beluga whales have very developed facial muscles, so they are able to change their “facial” expression, that is, demonstrate sadness or anger, joy or boredom. Such an amazing ability is not inherent in all underwater inhabitants.

Beluga whales swim in northern latitudes, their natural thermal insulation is provided by strong skin up to two centimeters thick and a thick layer of fat up to 15 cm thick. This protects the animals from hypothermia.

Beluga whales are called “polar canaries” or “singing whales” because they make up to 50 different sounds, as well as ultrasonic clicks, through which they communicate with each other. It is from the ability of “white whales” to make loud sounds that the Russian phraseological unit “roar like a beluga” comes from.

Natural enemies of beluga whales

Photo: Beluga whales at sea

In nature, the beluga whale has a lot of enemies. As a rule, these are larger predators both underwater and on the shore. The nature of the predator, size and number depend on the beluga whale’s habitat. These include killer whales, polar bears, and Greenland sharks.

Beluga whales are very easy prey for polar bears. A white whale comes close to icebergs where hunting bears are located. Sometimes bears come to migrating ice specifically to hunt, and sometimes they stay on it for several days. Polar bears stalk beluga whales and attack using their claws and teeth.

Interesting fact: The beluga whale has several options for protection - camouflage, the ability to hide in the ice and behind a larger fellow tribesman who is able to repel a predator's attack.

Killer whales have a different way of hunting. As a pod of white whales begins their migration, the killer whale joins the group and accompanies it most of the way, constantly attacking and feeding. Beluga whales can usually hear killer whales, making it difficult to attack them. Due to the low maneuverability of killer whales in the ice, beluga whales manage to evade their pursuers.

Greenland sharks chase a school and attack not only during migration, but also in their habitats. However, white whales are capable of collective resistance. Animals often find themselves captured by Arctic ice and die, becoming prey to polar bears, killer whales and the local population.

People remain the most important danger and threat to the survival of the species. Hunting on an industrial scale for whale skin and blubber has significantly reduced the animal's population. The main dangers for these whales are toxic and industrial waste, garbage, as well as climate and environmental change in their breeding and habitat areas.

Scientists note that beluga whales are affected by noise pollution. The sharp growth and development of shipping, the increase in the flow of wild tourists interferes with normal reproduction and leads to a decrease in the number of calves, and as a result, a reduction in the herd.

Beluga beluga

Author A deleted user asked a question in the Animals, Plants
What is the difference between a beluga and a beluga And also why, when someone says that he roars like a beluga? and got the best answer

Answer from Natalya[guru] This phrase is a mistake. More precisely, a “verbal typo” crept into it. There are two completely different living creatures in the seas: the beluga fish, the largest of the sturgeon family (like all other fish, it never roars or howls), and the commercial animal beluga - one of the cetaceans, a dolphin with white naked skin. Beluga whales have a voice: moving in herds in the sea, they make a peculiar moo, something like a bull’s roar. The language confused these two animals. Why? Probably not without the influence of one feature of our Russian pronunciation. In some places we pronounce the letter “g” as a sound somewhat similar to “x”: “hora”, “bokhaty”... This is how some speakers may have pronounced the word “beluga”. Others, out of habit of correcting an incorrect pronunciation, at the same time conveyed the similar word “belukha” in the “correct” way. However, this explanation cannot in any way be considered indisputable. One way or another, “to roar like a beluga,” “to sigh like a beluga” means: to emit loud and sad moans. This expression, although it is erroneous, is understood by everyone. But if you say correctly: “to roar like a beluga whale,” they won’t understand you and even correct you. Who will be right in this case? These are the quirks of our language.

Who is roaring like a beluga here? Who floods the floor with streams? How to “roar like a beluga”? Let's figure it out.

This phrase, pundits say, is a mistake. Or rather, a “verbal typo.”

The fact is that in the seas there are two completely different living creatures: the beluga fish, the largest of the sturgeon family, which never cries, and the commercial animal beluga - a dolphin with white naked skin. Beluga dolphins have a voice: they make a peculiar moo, something like a bull's roar.

So why don’t we say: “roar like a beluga whale”, that would be correct. Here, the pronunciation was influenced by one feature of the language: the letter “g” is often pronounced as a sound somewhat similar to “x”: “hora”, “bokhaty”... The word “belukha” was changed out of habit when an incorrect pronunciation was corrected.

And so it went: emitting loud and sad moans means “roaring like a beluga.”

Commander's belt tooth

The beluga whale is a mammal of the dolphin family of the suborder odontocetes. This species is a polar dolphin, whose habitat is located in the seas of the Arctic Ocean. Beluga whales are also found in mighty northern rivers that flow into the ocean, for example, in the waters of the Yenisei, Lena, and Ob. The beluga whale is able to swim upstream these rivers for tens of kilometers, but still prefers to live in the vastness of the ocean, which is rich in fish necessary to feed the animal.

Population and species status

Photo: Beluga animal

Estimates of beluga whale abundance vary widely. The difference in numbers is tens of thousands. This is a fairly large error for such a small species.

The current worldwide population is between 150,000 and 180,000 animals. 30 habitat areas of the toothed whale have been noted - 12 are located on the territory of the Russian Federation. The largest group of whales - more than 46% - is constantly located off the coast of Russia.

Habitats of the main population:

Bristol Bay;
Eastern Bering Sea;
Chukchi Sea;
Beaufort Sea;
Severnaya Zemlya;
West Greenland;
Western, Southern and Eastern Hudson Bay;
St. Lawrence River;
Spitsbergen;
Franz Josef Land;
Ob Bay;
Yenisei Bay;
Onega Bay;
Dvinskaya Bay;
Laptev sea;
Western Chukchi Sea;
East-Siberian Sea;
Anadyr Bay;
Shelikhov Bay;
Sakhalin - Amur River;
Shantar Islands.

Canadian ichthyologists count between 70,000 and 90,000 beluga whales in their region. The western Hudson Bay population is considered the largest in Canadian waters, with approximately 24,000 individuals. Beluga whales living in this part of the bay are considered resistant to external factors, despite the aggressive environment and human interference in the life of the toothed whale.

Migrating populations are counted simultaneously by representatives of different countries - Denmark, Norway, Russia, Canada and Great Britain. Their number at the starting point is very different from the finishing point. The numbers reflect group losses from predation and human activity.

A fairly large group of animals lives in zoos, oceanariums, national aquariums and dolphinariums. Scientists are at a loss as to how many individuals may be in captivity. According to some estimates, this could be 100 or more animals in Russia alone, and about 250 individuals in other countries of the world.