Suborder toothed whales. This species is a polar dolphin, whose habitat is located in the seas of the Northern Arctic Ocean. Beluga whales are also found in the mighty northern rivers that flow into the ocean, for example, in the waters of the Yenisei, Lena, and Ob. The beluga whale is able to swim upstream these rivers for tens of kilometers, but still prefers to live in the expanses of the ocean, which is rich in fish necessary for the animal to feed.

Beluga is a large marine animal. The body length of males reaches 6 m, sometimes weighing about 2 tons. Average weight the male is 1.5 tons. The females are slightly smaller: up to 5 m in length, with a maximum weight of up to 1.5 tons. Adult polar dolphins are painted white, which was the reason for their name. Newborn cubs are distinguished by a dark blue or bluish-black color, which gradually turns pale, becomes grayish, then pale blue. The blueness completely disappears at the age of 4-5 years, and the animal becomes absolutely white.

The beluga whale is characterized by a small head with a characteristic frontal protrusion, like other dolphins, but this species does not have a beak. The ability of the beluga whale to rotate its head, turn it up, down and to the side is remarkable. This is due to the high mobility of the cervical vertebrae, which are not fused, as in similar types, but are separated by a cartilaginous layer. Also, polar dolphins have well-developed muscles on the muzzle. Beluga easily changes its expression, expressing joy, sadness, and even indifference and contempt.

The animal has wide pectoral fins, small in comparison with the body, a powerful tail. The dorsal fin is absent. The skin is very strong, heat-insulating, with a thickness of about 2 cm. Under the skin there is a thick layer of fat (about 15 cm), which is necessary for the beluga whale to protect internal organs from the polar cold.

The speed of the dolphin reaches 10 km/h. In danger, it can reach 25 km / h. The beluga whale can swim on its back and backwards. Dives to a depth of about 300 m, without air can withstand 15 minutes.

Beluga whale feeds on fish, mainly schooling: capelin, cod, polar cod, herring, Far Eastern navaga, flounder, whitefish and salmon species. Occasionally includes crustaceans and cephalopods. Prey is usually not enough, but sucks. Every day, an adult white whale needs about 15 kg of food. While hunting, the dolphin enters the large basins of the Yenisei, Lena, Amur, Ob, Khatanga, and can rise hundreds of kilometers upstream.

The native element of the polar beluga dolphin is the Arctic Ocean, it is found in the White, Bering and Okhotsk seas, in winter period- in the Baltic Sea. When hunting, it enters the basins of large rivers.

The male beluga whale is larger than the female in size. While the female weighs up to 1.5 tons, the weight of the male is in the range of 1.5-2 tons.

Beluga whales are characterized by regular seasonal migration. In spring, the dolphin moves to the coast, to bays, fjords and estuaries. Summer period usually spends here, off the coast, since the water is warmer here and there is more food. It is also convenient to molt in such coastal areas: in order to remove the dead surface layers of the skin, the beluga whale rubs against the pebbles in shallow water. The beluga whale is generally tied to the same flying site and visits it every year. In addition, the dolphin even remembers the place of its birth and after wintering it returns to it.

In winter, beluga whales keep to the edge of the ice field, occasionally penetrating far into the glaciation zone. In case of icing of a large water area, they make a massive migration to the south. In order to breathe, belugas need polynyas; for this, the animals pierce ice several centimeters thick with their backs. It is during the winter period that especially many dolphins die if the ice becomes too thick or they fall into “ice captivity”. In addition, polar bears and killer whales hunt them at this time.

Beluga whales migrate in flocks, which consist of two types of groups. The first groups consist of 1-3 adult females and their cubs. The second includes 8-16 adult males. During hunting, flocks of belugas sometimes consist of hundreds and even thousands of individuals.

Beluga whales are social creatures. They are capable of making such a variety of sounds that they are even called "sea canaries", which is where the combination "beluga roar" came from. Scientists describe about 50 sound signals(whistles, squeals, chirps, screams, gnashing, shrill cries, roars). In addition, belugas communicate with each other using body language.

The breeding season, depending on the region where the white whale lives, varies from spring to autumn. Males for females arrange real fights. The duration of pregnancy is 14 months. Offspring appear every 2-3 years. Mating and childbirth take place in coastal areas with warm water. Usually one cub 140-160 cm long is born. Milk feeding lasts 1-2 years.

Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 4-7 years, males - at 7-9 years. The beluga whale grows up to 9-11 years. After 20 years, females stop giving birth. Life expectancy is 32-40 years.

The beluga whale is included in the IUCN Red List and has the status of a vulnerable species. At the end of the 20th century, there were 30 herds of beluga whales in the world, with a total number of 100,000-200,000 individuals. Today, the main threat to belugas is not so much intensive fishing as the industrial development of the Arctic shelf and pollution of their habitat with various wastes and pesticides.

In nature, the beluga whale has two natural enemy: polar bear and killer whale, land and sea powerful predators. In winter, polar bears hunt beluga whales near thawed patches and ice holes, where the latter emerge to take a breath. The bear stuns them with its paw, then drags them onto the ice and eats them. Killer whales attack beluga whales in the water, and since they swim twice as fast, the dolphin in this case has no chance of salvation.

• The thickened layer of the epidermis of the skin of the beluga whale (up to 15 mm thick) protects the dolphin from damage from ice. A layer of subcutaneous fat 10-12 cm thick serves as a reliable protection against the cold.
• The beluga whale is capable of making a wide variety of sounds, and also ultrasonic clicks. With their help, the dolphin gets a clear idea of ​​the surrounding space.
• Beluga is a very massive, but at the same time agile dolphin, which is able to swim on its back and backwards. average speed animal is 3-9 km/h. But when frightened, it rises to 22 km / h. Usually, the beluga whale emerges to the surface every 1-1.5 minutes, and can stay under water for up to 15 minutes. In shallow water, the dolphin performs virtuoso maneuvers.
• The beluga whale tolerates captivity well and can be trained. It was first presented at the circus in Barnum in the 19th century. Beluga whales can be trained to deliver equipment for divers, search for lost items, and underwater videotape, making them very valuable helpers for humans in Arctic exploration.

The world ocean strikes with a variety of living organisms not only the inhabitants, but also seasoned researchers. According to ichthyologists, only 10% marine life known and more or less studied by modern scientists. This is due to the difficulties faced by researchers of the sea: great depth, lack of daylight, pressure water masses, a threat from underwater predators. But still, some of them have been studied quite well. For example, the beluga whale is a mammal from the suborder of toothed whales belonging to small family narwhal.

Appearance

To understand what a white whale looks like, you need to imagine a huge dolphin with a small head without a beak ("nose"). Feature animal - the presence of a large convex forehead on the head, so the beluga whale is often called "lobasta". Their cervical vertebrae are not fused, so these representatives of cetaceans, unlike most of their relatives, can turn their heads in different directions.

Beluga whales have small oval pectoral fins and a powerful tail, but no dorsal fin.

Adult animals (over three years old) have skin of a uniform white color where their name comes from. Babies are born 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.

habitats

These marine inhabitants have chosen the waters of the Arctic Ocean - the Kara, Barents, Chukchi Seas. In the White Sea, often found near northern latitude. They inhabit the marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean - the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan and the Bering Sea, and also enter the Baltic Sea (the Atlantic Ocean basin).

Beluga - marine mammal, but in pursuit of prey, it often enters the large northern rivers - the Amur, Ob, Lena, Yenisei, swimming hundreds of kilometers upstream.

Nutrition

The basis of the diet of belugas is schooling fish - capelin, herring, polar cod, cod, Pacific saffron cod. They like to eat flounder, whitefish or salmon, less often they hunt crustaceans and cephalopods.

They go fishing in large flocks. "Speaking" among themselves and acting together, they drive the fish into shallow water, where it is more convenient to catch it.

The white whale sucks its prey and swallows it whole. An adult individual consumes at least 15 kg of fish per day.

Lifestyle, habits and economic importance

Keith or This will be discussed below. Now let's talk about the habits of these marine inhabitants. They surf the expanses of water in small flocks - 10-15 individuals each, and males swim separately from females with cubs. The average speed of movement is 10-12 km / h, but in case of danger they can accelerate to 25 km / h.

Like a normal 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 continuously be under water for 15-20 minutes, but no more. This explains why beluga whales avoid glaciation zones in winter - the surface of the water covered with ice 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 it will have no chance of salvation. The polar bear tracks down the "white whales" near polynyas and suffocates them with its paw when they emerge to the surface, so that they can then be pulled out of the water and eaten.

Every spring, mammals molt in the truest sense of the word, that is, shed their old dead skin, for which they rub their backs and sides against pebbles in shallow water.

The beluga whale is a sociable and cheerful animal, it is friendly towards people, makes contact with pleasure and lends itself well to training. There has not yet been a single case of a "white whale" attack on a person. Therefore, these mammals often perform in dolphinariums, help divers, scouts, and explorers of the deep sea.

In nature, these cetaceans live up to 35-40 years, in captivity - up to 50 years.

reproduction

Puberty in beluga whales comes late: in females at the age of 4-5 years, and in males not earlier than 7-9 years. Before mating, which falls on April-June, males conduct spectacular but peaceful tournament fights, during which they do not cause damage to each other. The winner retires with the female to a secluded place for mating.

Pregnancy lasts more than a year - approximately 14 months. Before giving birth, the female swims in the mouths of the rivers, where the water is warmer. As a rule, only one cub up to one and a half meters long is born, twins are extremely a rare event. Beluga is a mammal, that is, the female feeds her baby with milk. Feeding lasts up to two years, often at this time the beluga is already pregnant again. The ability to bear children is lost at the age of 20 years.

Babies stay near their mothers until sexually mature, that is, they leave their native flock at the age of 4-6 years, after which the young are going to a new group.

population status

Beluga whale is a protected mammal. The population of "white whales" was greatly reduced in the 18th and 19th centuries, when they became a coveted prey for whalers due to their high quality fat, tasty tender meat and thick, strong skin. Later, the capture of belugas began to be controlled, and at present the number of these animals is, according to approximate estimates, 200,000 individuals. Therefore, there is no clear threat of extinction of beluga whales, although they suffer greatly due to the intensive human development of the Arctic and the pollution of the waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Beluga whales have very developed muscles of the muzzle, so they are able to change the expression of the "face", that is, to demonstrate sadness or anger, joy or boredom. Such amazing ability not inherent in all underwater inhabitants.

Beluga whales swim in northern latitudes, their natural thermal insulation is provided by strong skin up to two centimeters thick and a powerful layer of fat up to 15 cm thick. This protects animals from hypothermia.

Beluga whales are called "polar canaries" or "singing whales" because they make up to 50 different sounds, as well as ultrasonic clicks, through which they communicate with each other. It is from the ability of "white whales" to make loud sounds that the Russian phraseological unit "roar like a beluga" came from.

Beluga whale or dolphin?

Now you know everything about this marine life. But the question of whether the beluga whale is a whale or a dolphin remains open. The people call it none other than the polar or white dolphin. This name came about thanks to appearance and habitat of the animal. But in the biological sense, the beluga whale belongs to the order of whales, and the dolphin can be called its cousin. evolutionary paths their ancestors diverged several million years ago. Therefore, it is more correct to say that the beluga whale is not a dolphin.

Sea canary, polar whale, singing whale, wingless dolphin or just a white dolphin - it has many beautiful poetic names, but in science this animal is called " white whale dolphin". This is the most popular inhabitant of dolphinariums, an incredibly artistic and emotional animal, also recognized as one of the most intellectually developed. Well, looking at the photos of beluga whales, it is simply impossible not to be fascinated by their touching beauty. Therefore, many people want to get to know them and attend their performances in dolphinariums. But in vain!

Pleasing with a thousand voices and emotions

The uniqueness of the beluga dolphin is in its highly developed intellect. They are even able to emotionally respond to various calls of a person (they use facial expressions for this and can even smile) and respond to him in their own way (in addition to many different sounds, they also have body language - slaps on the water, etc.).

Imagine, beluga dolphins are capable of emitting more than 50 different sound signals. This is a screech, and a whistle, and a chirping, and a scream, and a piercing cry. The show with them is impressive, incredibly bright and colorful. Not to mention the fact that beluga whales, like any other dolphins, have a strong influence on people - they relieve stress and disperse melancholy.

Because of this unique talent for animals of their class, the Americans nicknamed the beluga "sea canary". But the famous Russian phraseological unit “beluga roar” did not appear at all in honor of the freshwater beluga fish (which, as befits a fish, is silent), but precisely thanks to these talkative whales. When they migrate in flocks in search of food, they emit a very strong and intimidating roar.

People, don't kill dolphins!

People line up to watch a performance of a white whale dolphin. But in vain, because in order for this show to take place, poor animals have to go through a lot. They are caught in a monstrous way, so that many whales die in this fight with a man.

Further, already in the process of transportation from the North, not all of the remaining dolphins survive: they have to be locked up in nets without food for a long period of time. And I'm not talking about severe stress and psychological trauma, which also undermine the life and health of white whales during their capture.

After that, the surviving units, finding themselves in the dolphinarium, fall into a severe depression. Needless to say, the existence of such highly developed creatures in captivity also does not add to their joy in life ...

Is the beluga whale a whale or a dolphin?

Beluga is a mammal that belongs to the cetacean order and the dolphin family. So the question “Is a white whale a whale or a dolphin” can be answered in the affirmative in both cases.

Where are beluga dolphins found? The beluga whale is called a polar whale because of its habitat - these are northern latitudes (the Arctic Ocean, all the waters of the seas of the Arctic basin and, moreover, the Bering, White and Seas of Okhotsk). That is, Beluga dolphins live exactly at the North Pole, which is located in the Arctic, this is the central part of the Arctic Ocean. But our baby got the poetic name "wingless dolphin" because of its anatomical structure.

The point is that white whales do not dorsal fin unlike his relatives. And it is quite logical that the name “white dolphin” was given to the white whale because of its color. She has white skin with a slight pinkish tint on her tummy. True, the youngest individuals are distinguished by a bluish-gray or brown color.

However, it is difficult to call a beluga dolphin a crumb, of course. This animal of incredible beauty reaches from 4 (females) to 6 (males) meters in length. The weight of a beluga dolphin can reach about two tons.

White whale dolphin: food is served!

The polar beluga dolphin feeds mainly on schooling fish - capelin, polar cod, herring, cod, flounder, Far Eastern navaga, salmon and whitefish species of fish. It can also be cephalopods and crustaceans. At the same time, the beluga whale sucks in its food, and does not capture it. In general, adults white whale For a normal diet, you need approximately 15 kilograms of food per day.

In search of prey, they can climb quite far from their usual habitat, in special occasions rising upstream for several hundred kilometers.

Reproduction: Beluga whales are feminists?

white whale dolphin considered the most "prolific" among their relatives. After all, the female usually throws two babies, and all other cetaceans, as usual, only one.

Interestingly, after fertilization of the female, the male leaves her. And the females at this time are united in separate flocks by gender to bear their offspring. Scientists who observed the behavior of these animals in wild nature, note that the mother beluga whale is distinguished by great care and love in nursing the cubs.

Seasonal migrations: home sweet home

Research has shown fun fact: the white whale dolphin remembers its place of birth and will certainly return there after each wintering. They spend the warm season near the coast: in shallow bays, estuaries of northern rivers and fjords. At this time there is a lot of food due to the higher temperatures. In addition, in shallow water it is convenient for them to get rid of the surface layer of the skin. During molting, white dolphins rub against pebbles.

Breaking thin ice...

But these animals spend the winter, holding on to the edge of the ice fields. But flocks of beluga dolphins can also climb into glaciation zones, because there ice creases form strong winds. But if the glaciation becomes too strong, then polar whales can massively sail south.

Actually, in the cold season, polar whales maneuver between ice floes, being able to exist only in polynyas and leads. The fact is that during underwater life they constantly need air, so beluga whales come up to breathe. It is interesting that beluga dolphins even support these openings for respite so that they do not freeze. Polar whales are able to break through thin ice with their backs - up to 10 centimeters thick.

But, unfortunately, sometimes a herd of beluga whales can get trapped in ice. It happens that, nevertheless, polynyas drag on very dense ice, and this is a tragedy for belugas - they simply die under water ...

Video: Beluga whales answer journalist's questions

This video demonstrates once again how smart animals and cruel people are. Do you think it's not torment, but happiness - waving your head and making sounds at the wave of someone's hand for your second fun?!

Take it, tell your friends!

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white whale mammal amazing creature, which for many centuries fishermen mistook for mermaids. And although this species of toothed whales belonging to the narwhal family has been studied quite well, this animal never ceases to amaze both scientists and lovers of the underwater world.

White whale mammal and its features

The skin of the animal has a monochromatic color, which changes as the beluga whale grows older. In newborns, it is blue with dark blue, and after 1 year it changes to gray with bluish-gray. When individuals reach the age of three to five years, the color becomes pure white. And it was from here that the name of these cetaceans came from - the beluga whale.

The largest males reach six meters in length and a body weight of two tons. white whale mammal has a small, "lobed" head without a "beak". The neck vertebrae are mobile, unlike most other whales, so the animal is able to turn its head in different directions, which gives it undeniable advantages.

Own Latin name genus, which means "wingless dolphin", the beluga whale received from the absence of a dorsal fin. It has only small, oval pectoral fins.

In this whale, half of its body weight is adipose tissue. In the body of a beluga whale, the mass fraction of fat with age varies from forty two to forty eight percent. All these marine animals are well-fed, the fat layer forms the frame of the body, making it elastic. A spherical protrusion on their forehead is also formed from fat, which is called melon - a kind of fatty pad. It is not needed for beauty, because. this fat pad is connected to the muscles and is responsible for regulating the direction of echolocation and communication signals.

Habitat

The distribution of the beluga whale is circumpolar in nature, this mammal is found between 50° and 80° north latitude, inhabiting arctic waters, as well as the Bering, White and Okhotsk Seas. Sometimes in winter it can be found in the waters of the Baltic Sea.

It can also be seen near the Solovetsky Islands. And its isolated population can be observed in the estuary of the St. Lawrence River.

Lifestyle and nutrition of beluga whales

The main diet of the white whale mammal is mainly schooling fish, such as cod, capelin, Far Eastern herring, flounder, saffron cod, salmon and whitefish species. Beluga whales can also diversify their diet with various types of crustaceans, as well as representatives of cephalopods.

Potential prey, especially for benthic organisms, these mammals do not grab, but simply suck. On a day, adults consume about fifteen kilograms of food. And while chasing its prey, for example, spawning salmon, the beluga whale often enters such major rivers, large Yenisei, Ob, Lena, Amur, as well as in the bay of the river. Khatanga, occasionally rising upstream not even tens, but hundreds of kilometers.

Also, these representatives of the narwhal family annually make seasonal migrations. With the onset of spring, they move closer to the coast - to the fjords, shallow bays, and the mouths of various northern rivers.

This behavior is due to a large abundance of food, as well as more high temperatures water. In addition, coastal areas are excellent places for seasonal "molting". It is noteworthy that in order to remove their superficial dead skin layer, beluga whales swim in shallow water and rub against pebbles.

In winter, white whale mammals, they stay at the very edges of ice fields, occasionally penetrating far into the dangerous zone of glaciation, into those places where strong winds and currents support leads, cracks and polynyas.

When icing occurs in large water areas, belugas are massively pumped to the south. It is interesting that the polynyas, to which these mammals rise to inhale the air, can be located at a distance of up to three kilometers from each other. And beluga whales do not let them freeze, thanks to their ability to break through the ice with their backs, even if it is several centimeters thick.

Unfortunately, for some belugas, wintering ends tragically. After all, when the polynya is covered with too thick a layer of ice, a herd of these representatives of cetaceans finds itself in ice captivity. In addition, the polar bear also hunts for beluga whales in winter, lying in wait for its prey near the polynya, and drowning it. strong blows paws. Also, another deadly enemy of beluga whales is its distant relative - killer whale, which loves to feast on its nutritious meat.

White whale mammals make their journeys in herds, which consist of groups of two different types. The first type of group includes from one to three adult mature females (most likely sisters), as well as their cubs of different ages. And the second type is groups consisting of adult males (from eight to sixteen individuals).

White whale mammals, in pursuit of shoals of fish, they can stray into herds, reaching hundreds and even thousands of livestock.

These amazing mammals are social beings. The Americans, for the wide variety of sounds they make, called them “sea canaries” - literally “sea canary”, and among Russians a phraseological turn is very popular - “roar like a beluga”.

Studying white whale mammals , scientists were able to count about 50 unique sound signals, such as screeching, whistling, chirping, grinding, screaming, roaring and piercing scream. Also, when communicating, these animals use “body language” (for example, slapping their tail fins in the water) and even a kind of facial expressions.

So, in the first part of the article, we met with an amazing representative of cetaceans - white whale mammal. And from the second part, you will learn a lot of interesting things about these marine animals: about reproduction, raising cubs, “kindergartens for beluga calves” and others. interesting facts from the life of white whales.