Beluga Whales UNCOVERED! AGM's friend,Lauren tell us ALL happening in THEIR world

We don't know about YOU,but AGM has many beluga whale questions that are UNANSWERED. That's why we ask our Vancouver Aquarium (Vanaqua)'s friends,Ann Dreonili and Lauren Hartling to answer them! Smart Lauren is the Interpretive Specialist for Marine Mammals at the Vancouver Aquarium. It is her job to not only write the beluga show that guests see when they come to the Aquarium but to be on microphone presenting them as well. She work closely with the Aquarium Librarian to make sure my facts are correct as well as the Marine Mammal Trainers.Wow! Ann was the one who helped us arrange this with Lauren!


AGM:Does a mother beluga whale milk its calf? How? (do you mean “Does a beluga whale feed milk to its calf”?)

Ans: Yes, belugas feed their young milk. They are mammals like we are, meaning that they give birth to live young and feed their babies milk. Beluga milk is full of good fat that helps the babies to grow big and strong quickly.


AGM:Are beluga whales intelligent? Tell us more!


Ans: They are incredibly intelligent! They live in groups with other belugas and are able to communicate with each other using sound and body language. They are able to problem solve to better find food, or safe passage to calving grounds or feeding grounds. It is hard to say how intelligent they are specifically, but they are very smart.

AGM:Do you have checkups for your beluga whales? Tell us about your checkups.


Ans: We can do checkups on the belugas every single day thanks to the relationship they have with their trainers. The trainers can ask for the whales to show different parts of their bodies, which allows them to get a look and see if there are any new cuts or scratches on the animals. If we ever need to take a blood sample from the whales, the trainers can ask the whales to show their tails, and our vet staff can come and take a sample from the veins in their tails with the whales participating in this voluntarily. It’s a great way to make sure the animals are healthy!


AGM:What is a baby beluga whale called? And how many months do they leave their mothers and they can normally leave until how many years old?


Ans: A baby beluga is called a calf. When they are born they are a grey/brown colour and get whiter as they get older. Calves can stay with their moms for life, but male calves tend to leave when they are about 5 years old.


AGM:How do beluga whales remove the shell of the crab and shrimp?


Ans: They don’t remove the shell, they eat it whole!


AGM:Do beluga whales communicate with humans?


Ans: We can’t talk with the whales using language or sound like we do with other people, but the trainers spend so much time with the animals, that they have learned different behaviours that the animals do (things they do in their habitat) or body language, and can use that to interpret how the animals might be doing. It’s a great way for the trainers to also know how the animals may be feeling health-wise.


AGM:Are they shy around humans? Or usually do they like humans to touch them? (Does that happens in your aquarium?)


Ans: Belugas tend to avoid people in the oceans, because we can be seen as a predator to them, as well as the boats we ride in can be very noisy to the whales. The whales at the Aquarium can be touched by the trainers because the trainers have a relationship with the animals, and the whales trust the trainers. The belugas seem to like being touched by their trainers, and we can tell this by how they open their mouths for the trainers for tongue scratches.


AGM:How do you get a beluga whales's food and usually how much does it cost?


Ans: The beluga whales at the Aquarium eat about 11-18 kgs of fish and squid per day (23-42 lbs)! We are able to buy it from fishermen who catch herring and capelin and squid around BC sustainably (meaning that they don’t catch animals they don’t want to, and we aren’t taking more fish than we need to). It can get to be very expensive, but I don’t have an actual cost J


AGM:Why were beluga whales named "beluga whales"?


A: The word Beluga means “White” in Russian.


AGM:How did you get your beluga whales? Did you capture them or did you exchanged them with another marine aquarium?


A: Qila is 17 years old and was born here at the Vancouver Aquarium to Aurora who is in her 20’s. Aurora came to the Aquarium from Churchill Manitoba in 1990. In 1996, the Vancouver Aquarium made the decision to not collect whales from the ocean again.


AGM:Does the food that the beluga whales eat gives them vitamins,protein etc?


Ans: Absolutely! By eating a wide variety of seafood, belugas are able to get all of the vitamins and minerals they need to be healthy and survive in the oceans.


AGM:How does a beluga whale communicate with each other?


Ans: Sound is an effective means of communication for belugas because it travels long distances through water. Belugas communicate with a wide range of sounds: clicks, chirps, grunts, squeals, screeches and whistles. Belugas make such an array of sounds that nineteenth century sailors and explorers of the high Arctic named them “sea canaries.” In her studies on the Vancouver Aquarium’s belugas, researcher Valeria Vergara has found that baby belugas aren’t born with all their sounds—they have to learn them from their social group, just like baby humans.


Ans.:What is the diet of a beluga whale?


A: Here at the Aquarium the belugas eat herring, squid and capelin!



AGM:What are the main reasons that caused beluga whales endangered?

Ans: It’s hard to pinpoint one particular thing that is leading to belugas being endangered, but human activity seems to be the biggest impact they face. Humans use a lot of chemicals in our daily lives and those chemicals can get into the beluga whales habitats and build up in their bodies. The sounds we make when we use boats in areas where belugas live can overpower the sounds belugas make, so they can’t hear each other. We are also seeing a huge loss of sea ice in the Arctic right now from Climate Change. Belugas rely on the sea ice as part of the food chain they belong to. With less sea ice, there is less food for them to eat. People right now, can make a change in their lives to help belugas. You can turn off your lights, wash clothes in cold water, and unplug things from the wall. This helps to save energy, which means less impact on the planet. You can do research into other ways you can help belugas too, by checking out our website: www.VanAqua.org.



AGM:Do you have any advice for AG readers looking to get into a career with something to do with beluga whales?


Ans: Stay in school, go to college or university, volunteer, and search all sorts of jobs like research, education, conservation and animal training/husbandry jobs. There are so many jobs out there where you can get involved and help belugas! Keep doing your own research!