| Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) |
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Scientific name: Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776) Common name: Beluga Whale French name: Béluga, Baleine blanche. Family: Monodontidae Size: Length: 3.7 m to 4.3 m for males (maximum length: 6 m), 3 to 3.7 m for females; Weight: 450 kg to 1000 kg for males (maximum weight: 1500 kg), 250 kg to 700 kg for females (maximum weight 1000 kg). Biotope: Deep sea and coastline in cold water. Beluga Whales move to shallow waters, bays, estuaries in spring and summer. Food: Mainly fish but also octopus, squid, crabs and prawns caught by diving to a maximum depth of 300 meters. Longevity : 50 to 60 years old (30 years on average). Geographic area: Arctic and Subarctic oceans north of the 50th parallel. An isolated population lives in the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec. |
Beluga Whales have a massive, entirely white body. The head has a short snout and a wide mouth. There is no dorsal fin but large pectoral fins. Beluga Whales are gregarious animals that live in groups of about ten individuals. There is only one baby per litter. It is dark grey in colour. This colour gradually lightens to become white at 9 years old for males and 7 years old for females. |
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The confluence of the Saguenay Fjord and St. Lawrence Estuary is a hot spot for sea mammal watching. We saw many Belugas from the shore at the Pointe-Noire Interpretation and Observation Centre. It was an incessant ballet of emergence of small white heads. |
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The Beluga Whale can hold its breath for 20 minutes. It must return to the surface to breathe thanks to its vent that we can guess here. |
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Here is a photo with two Belugas. I initially thought of a mother and her calf but the white colour of the two individuals indicates two adults. |
André Bon March 2023