3 Physical descrption

This gregarious whaleWhales are the largest species of exclusively aquatic placental mammals, dfsgRSFNjg A complete up-to-date taxonomical listing of all cetacean species, including all whales is maintained at the Cetacea article. Anatomy Like all mammals, whales breathe air can be up to 5m long, larger than all but the largest dolphins but smaller than most other toothed whaleSee text The toothed whales ( systematic name Odontoceti form a suborder of the cetaceans. As the name suggests, the suborder is characterized by having teeth (rather than baleen as do animals in the other suborder of cetaceans, mysticeti). Toothed whaless. Males are generally larger than the female - males can weigh 1.5 tonnes and females about one tonne. Newly-born Beluga are about 1.5m long and weigh 80kg. This whale is unmistakeable when adult: it is all white and has a dorsal ridge rather than a fin. The head is also unlike that of any other cetacean - its melonCetaceans The melon is a oily, fatty lump of tissue found at the centre of the forehead of most dolphins and toothed whales The function of the melon is not completely understood, but scientists believe it provides a means of focussing sounds used in echo is extremely bulbous and even malleable. The beluga is able to change the shape of its melon by blowing area around its sinusA sinus is a pouch or cavity in any organ or tissue, or an abnormal cavity or passage caused by the destruction of tissue. The term is applied to a large number and variety of structures in the human body, such as a dilated portion of a blood vein, a chroes. Again unlike many whales, the vertebrae in the neck are not fused together, allowing the animal flexibility to turn its head laterally.

The absence of the dorsal fin is reflected in the genus name of the species - apertus is the latin for "finless". The evolutionary preference for a dorsal ridge in favour of a fin is believed by scientists to be adaption to under-ice conditions, or possibly as a way of preserving heat.

The body of the Beluga is rotund, particularly when well-fed, which tapers smoothly to both the head and tail. The tail fin grows and become increasingly ornately curved as the animal ages. The flippers are broad and short - making them almost square-shaped.

Males become sexually mature at eight years, females at five. Females give birth to a single calf in the spring after a gestation period of fifteen months. Young Belugas are uniformly dark grey in colour. The grey steadily lightens as they grow up - reaching their distinctive pure white colour by the age of seven in females and nine in males. The nursing periods is about two years. The mating process is not properly understood. Mating certainly does occur during the winter or early spring, when the animals are still in their winter grounds or have begun their migration. However mating does occur at other times too; leaving open the possiblity of delayed implantation . Belugas live for upto forty years.

4 Distribution

The Beluga moves in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters ranging from 50° N to 80° N. In the spring Beluga move to their summer grounds - bays, estuaries and other shallow inlets. These summer sites are detached from one another and a mother will usually return to the same site year after year. As their summer homes become clogged with ice during autumn, beluga move away for winter. Most travel in the direction of the advancing ice-pack and stay close to the edge of it for the winter months. Others stay under the iced area - surviving by finding ice leads and polynyas (patches of open water in the ice) in which they can surface to breathe. Beluga may also find pockets of air trapped under the ice. Quite how beluga are able to find the thin slithers of open water when the dense ice pack may cover more than 95% of the sea surface is still a source of mystery and great interest to scientists. It is clear that the echo-location capabilities of the Beluga are highly adapted to the peculiar acoustics of the sub-ice sea and it has been suggested that Beluga can sense open water through echo-location

5 Behaviour

Beluga are highly socialable creatures. They move in close-knit pods which commonly contain animals of the same gender and age. Groups of males may number in the hundreds. Mothers with calves generally mix in slightly smaller groups. When pods aggregate in estuaries they may reach thousands in number. This can represent a significant proportion of the entire Beluga population and is the time when they are most vulnerable to hunting.

These are slow-swimming mammals which feed mainly on fish. They also eat cephalopods ( squid, octopus) and crustaceans ( crab, shrimp). Foraging on the seabed typically takes place at depths of up to 1,000 feet, but they can dive at least twice this depth.

Beluga exhibit a wide range of vocalisations including clicks, squeaks, whistles, squarks and a bell-like clang. One noted researcher in the field likens a noisy Beluga pod to the string section of an orchestra tuning up before a concert. Researchers have recorded 50 distinct sounds; most in the range of 0.1 to 12 k Hz.

Their main natural predators are Polar Bears, especially when the whales become encircled and trapped by ice. The Bear clobber the trapped whale with a paw and then drag it on ice for a feast. Beluga are easily small enough to also be a target for an Orca.

6 Population and human interaction

The global population of Beluga today stands at about 100,000. Although in this is much greater than other cetaceans, it is much smaller than historical populations following decades of over-hunting. There are estimated to be 40,000 individuals in the Beaufort Sea, 25,000 in Hudson Bay, 18,000 in the Bering Sea and 28,000 in the Canadian High Arctic.

Because of their predictable migration pattern and high concentrations, Beluga have been hunted by indigenious Arctic peoples for centuries. In many areas a pattern of hunting, believed to be sustainable, continues to this day. However in other areas, such as the Cook Inlet, Ungava Bay and off west Greenland previous commercial catches (now banned under the general moratorium on whaling) left the populations in great peril. Although not formally allowed, indigenious whaling continues in these areas too, and it is thought the populations may never recover. These areas are the subject of intensive dialogue between Inuit communities and national governments aiming to create a sustainable hunt and are the reason that the Beluga has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1994.

Because beluga congregrate in river estuaries, human-caused pollution is proving to be a significant danger to their health. Incidents of cancer have been reported to be rising in the St. Lawrence River pollution. The bodies of the Belugas resident in this area contain so many contaminants that their carcasses are treated as toxic waste. It is not known what the long-term effects of this pollution will be on the affected populations.

Indirect human disturbance may also be a threat to the species. Whilst some populations have come to tolerant small boats, others have been known to actively try to avoid ships. Whale-watching Beluga has become a huge and booming activity in the St. Lawrence and Churchill River areas.

Belugas were amongst the first whale species to be brought into captivity. The first Beluga was shown at Barnum's Museum in New York in 1861. Today it remains one of the few whale species kept at aquariums and sea life parks across North America, Europe and Japan. Their popularity there with visitors reflects their attractive colour, and their range of facial expressions. Whilst most dolphin "smiles" are fixed, the extra movement afforded by their unfused cervical vertebrae allows a greater range of expression. Most beluga found in aquaria are caught in the wild, though in-captivity breeding programmes have enjoyed some success.

Both the United States Navy and the navy of the former Soviet Union have used beluga in anti-mining operations in Arctic waters.

7 References

• National Audubon Guide to Marine Mammals of the World, Reeves, Stewart, Clapham and Powell. Random House. BooksEnthsiast.com.
• Beluga Whale by Gregory M. O'Corry-Crowe in Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (pp 95-99). Perrin, Wursig and Thewissen eds. Academic Press. BooksEnthsiast.com.

Cetaceans

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