The oceans are striking in the diversity of living organisms, not only among ordinary people, but also from seasoned researchers. According to ichthyologists, only 10% of marine life is known and more or less studied by modern scientists. This is due to difficulties encountered by researchers of marine open spaces: great depth, lack of daylight, pressure from water masses, and threats from underwater predators. But still, some marine animals have been studied quite well. For example, beluga whale is a mammal from the toothed whale suborder, belonging to the small family of narwhal.
Appearance
To understand what a beluga whale looks like, you need to imagine a huge dolphin with a small head without a beak ("nose"). A characteristic feature of the animal is the presence of a large convex forehead on the head, so beluga whales are often called "lobate". Their cervical vertebrae are not fused, so these representatives of cetaceans, unlike most of their relatives, can turn their heads in different directions.
Belugas have small oval pectoral fins and a powerful tail, but there is no dorsal fin.
Adult animals (over three years old) have a plain white skin, from where their name came from. Babies are born in blue or even dark blue, but after a year their skin brightens and acquires a delicate bluish-gray tint.
Beluga is a mammal of impressive size: males reach 5-6 meters in length and weigh at least 1.5-2 tons, females are smaller.
Habitat
These marine inhabitants have chosen the waters of the Arctic Ocean - the Kara, Barents, Chukchi seas. In the White Sea are often found near the Solovetsky Islands. Most densely beluga whales are settled between 50 ° and 80 ° north latitude. They inhabit the marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean - the Sea of Okhotsk, Japan and Bering, and enter the Baltic Sea (basin of the Atlantic Ocean).
Belukha is a marine mammal, but in pursuit of prey it often enters the large northern rivers - Amur, Ob, Lena, Yenisei, swimming hundreds of kilometers upstream.
Food
The basis of the diet of beluga whales is schooling fish - capelin, herring, polar cod, cod, Pacific navaga. They like to eat flounder, whitefish or salmon, less likely to hunt crustaceans and cephalopods.
These mammals go fishing in large flocks. "Talking" with each other and acting together, they drive the fish in shallow water, where it is more convenient to catch.
White whale absorbs its prey and swallows it whole. An adult consumes at least 15 kg of fish per day.
Lifestyle, habits and economic importance
Whale or beluga dolphin? This will be discussed below. Now let's talk about the habits of these marine inhabitants. They furrow open spaces of water in small flocks - 10-15 individuals each, with males swimming separately from females with cubs. The average speed is 10-12 km / h, but in danger can accelerate to 25 km / h.
Like a regular dolphin, a beluga whale can dive to a depth of 300 m, but every 5 minutes it emerges to the surface to swallow fresh air. If necessary, it can be continuously under water for 15-20 minutes, but no more. This explains why in the winter belugas avoid ice zones - the ice-covered surface of the water blocks their access to oxygen.
The natural enemies of the animal are killer whales and polar bears. If a killer whale chases a beluga whale under water, then she will have no chance of salvation. The polar bear tracks the “white whales” at the wormwood and paws them when they emerge to the surface, then to pull it out of the water and eat it.
Each spring, mammals molt in the literal sense of the word, that is, they discard old dead skin, for which they rub their backs and sides on pebbles in shallow water.
Beluga is an outgoing and cheerful animal, it is friendly towards people, it comes into contact with pleasure and lends itself well to training. Not a single case of a white whale attack on a person has yet been recorded. Therefore, these mammals often perform in dolphinariums, help divers, scouts, explorers of the deep sea.
In nature, these cetaceans live up to 35-40 years, in captivity - up to 50 years.
Breeding
Sexual maturity in beluga whales is late: in females aged 4-5 years, and in males not earlier than 7-9 years. Before the mating, which occurs in April-June, the males conduct spectacular, but peaceful tournament fights, during which they do no harm to each other. The winner leaves with the female in a secluded place for mating.
Pregnancy lasts more than a year - about 14 months. Before giving birth, the female swims in the estuaries, where the water is warmer. As a rule, only one cub is born, up to one and a half meters long, twins are an extremely rare occurrence. Beluga is a mammal, that is, a female feeds her baby with milk. Feeding lasts up to two years, often at this time the beluga whale is already pregnant again. The ability to bear children is lost at the age of 20 years.
The babies stay near their mothers until adulthood, that is, they leave their native flock at the age of 4-6 years, after which the young animals gather in a new group.
Population status
Beluga whale is a mammal that is protected. The population of “white whales” was greatly reduced in the 18th-19th centuries, when they became the coveted prey of whalers due to high-quality fat, tasty tender meat and thick, strong skin. Later, the capture of beluga whales began to be controlled, and now the number of these animals is, according to approximate estimates, 200 thousand individuals. Therefore, there is no obvious threat of the extinction of belugas, although they suffer greatly due to intensive human development of the Arctic and pollution of the waters of the Arctic Ocean.
Interesting Facts
Beluga whales have very developed muzzle muscles, therefore they are able to change the expression of “face”, that is, to show sadness or anger, joy or boredom. Such an amazing ability is not inherent in all underwater inhabitants.
Beluga whales swim in the northern latitudes, their natural thermal insulation is ensured by strong skin up to two centimeters thick and a powerful layer of fat up to 15 cm thick. This protects animals from hypothermia.
Belugas are called "polar canaries" or "singing whales" because they emit up to 50 different sounds, as well as ultrasonic clicks, through which they communicate with each other. It was from the ability of the "white whales" to make loud sounds and the Russian phraseology "roaring beluga" went.
