By: Lillian Hahn

About the Beluga Whale The beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is a small, white-toothed whale. Adult belugas may reach a length of 16 feet (5 m), though average size is 12 to 14 ft (about 4 m). Males may weigh about 3,300 lbs (1,500 kg) and females 3,000 lbs (1,360 kg). Beluga whales lack a dorsal fin and do not typically produce a visible "blow" when breathing at the surface.

Diet Beluga whales live on a diet of fish, crustaceans (such as krill), squid, octopus, crabs, sand worms and other small prey. They consume on average between 2 % – 3 % of their bodyweight on a daily basis. When foraging they often hunt for their food at or near the bottom of shallow coastal shores and will hunt in pods of 5 or more whales by herding their prey together into tight balls and then attacking it. Despite being a toothed whale they don’t chew their food, they swallow it whole.

Migration Beluga whales are often found swimming in shallow coastal water in the arctic. They can be seen traveling in pods of several hundred at certain times and when migrating numbers can reach the thousands. Depending on the area and environment some beluga whales will make seasonal migration trips while others will only travel within a small localized area. They can navigate through the arctic at temperatures as low as 0-c (-32 f). During the colder months as the arctic water freezes over most beluga whales will migrate south to avoid getting trapped in the frozen ice.

Migration (continued.) Some beluga populations make seasonal migrations, while others remain in a relatively small area year-round (Nowak, 1991; Leatherwood and Reeves, 1983). Environmental conditions determine migration behavior. Most beluga whales migrate south as the ice pack advances in the autumn. One population of beluga whales summers in the Mackenzie River estuary of Northwest Territories, Canada, and migrates 5,000 km (3,105 mi.) southwest to coastal areas of the Bering Sea in the winter. Many populations of belugas migrate north in the autumn. Belugas that spend the summer in Hudson Bay estuaries migrate north into the open bay in the winter (Nowak, 1991; Leatherwood and Reeves, 1983). Belugas may migrate to either shallower or deeper waters (Nowak, 1991).

Distribution Beluga whales are entirely arctic and subarctic. They inhabit the Arctic Ocean and its adjoining seas, including the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, the Beaufort Sea, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Nowak, 1991). During certain times of the year belugas can be found in large rivers such as the Amur River of Russia, and the Yukon and St. Lawrence rivers of Canada (Nowak, 1991). Belugas have been found 1,995 km (1,240 mi.) up the Amur River, and 965 km (600 mi.) up the Yukon (Alaska Geographic Society, 1978).

Habitat Beluga whales are generally found in shallow coastal waters, often in water barely deep enough to cover their bodies, but have also been seen in deep waters. They seem well adapted to both a cold ocean habitat and a warmer freshwater habitat. Belugas can be found swimming among icebergs and ice floes in the waters of the Arctic and subarctic, where water temperatures may be as low as 32° F (0° C). They can also be found in estuaries and river basins.

Beluga Whale Range  The striped parts represent the Winter Range.  The yellow parts represent the Summer Range.

Social Structure Beluga whales are very social and create high- pitched twitter noises used to communicate. Although they mostly travel in pods they often separate from one pod and move to another not staying locked down to any one group of whales. Pods can range anywhere from 5 – 100 or more during feeding and expand into the thousands during migration periods.

Bibliography itat.html itat.html etaceans/belugawhale.htm etaceans/belugawhale.htm

THE END BYE!!