HI everyone! It has been a long time since I posted the last blog, it is great to be back to this underwater world. I have the privilege of going to Harbin, China on February and I met two gorgeous Beluga whales in Harbin aquarium. They were brought in from North pole, where their natural habitat is and they were trained to do shows for us in order for us to understand more about ther species in effort to protect them.
Belugas at Harbin Aquarium
I have never thought I would be able to see Beluga so close up, literally inches away in the aquarium swimming freely and having lovely smiles on their faces. Although the water space they were put in is very small compared to the big ocean that they used to live in, hopefully they will be able to understand the purpose of them being kept there and be able to thrive in the aquarium.
The word beluga comes from the Russian word "bielo" meaning white.
Baby Belugas are born gray to enable them to hide in their mother's shadow and gradually turn snow white to blend with the ice and snow. (PIC) Their bulbous forehead, called a "melon", is also flexible and capable of changing shape by blowing air around its sinuses. This allows them to make different facial expressions and produce a series of chirps, clicks, whistles and squeals, which give the beluga its other name, "the canary of the sea.
Belugas, like other arctic whales, do not have dorsal fins (a dorsal fin causes extra heat loss and would be a major hindrance in the arctic ice), but they do have a tough dorsal ridge. They also have a thick layer of blubber that insulates them from the icy arctic waters. They travel in a group of 5-20 animals, but sometimes more than one thousand are spotted together. They consume various fish species, squid, and krill. It most probably does not dive any deeper than 300 m.
The females reach puberty at the age of five and the males at eight. Mating takes place when the ice melts, the gestation period is about 14 months and the calf is 1½ m long and weighs 80 kg at birth. They start turning white 5-12 years of age. No other whale species produces such a variety of high frequency sounds and only two other species can move their heads as freely as the beluga whale.
This is a video of Beluga performance that is found in Youtube, not the same as the one I watched at Harbin, but this showcase how intelligent they are. Enjoy!
This video shows a birth of a baby beluga whale at Shedd aquarium Chicago. Puiji is the mother and the calf is Ninavik. =)
Thank you and i shall see you soon! have a nice day.
Love the Ocean. Protect the Ocean.
For more information, please log on to :
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Beluga.shtml
http://www.solarnavigator.net/animal_kingdom/cetaceans/beluga_whale.htm
I hereby pray that all the people that have died from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to rest in peace and their family to be blessed with safety and happiness. May God and the ocean be with you.
