Beluga Whale
Delphinapterus leucas
The sea canary — a whale that can turn its head and look at you.
Belugas are the chattiest whales in the Arctic and the most expressive. That round forehead is a flexible bag of fat they squeeze into different shapes to aim sound, and they have a real neck: they can turn their head.
On the conservation status
Globally stable, but the Cook Inlet belugas in Alaska are critically endangered — around 330 animals and not recovering.
- Length
- 3.5–5.5 m (11–18 ft)
- Weight
- 700–1,600 kg
- Lifespan
- 35–50+ years
- Diet
- Fish, squid, crab, shrimp
- Blubber
- Up to 40% of body weight
- Colour at birth
- Grey — white by age 5–8
The good stuff.
They have an actual neck
A beluga's neck bones aren't fused together, as they are in many whales and dolphins. It can nod and turn its head side to side, which is why a beluga can look like it's watching you.
The melon is squishable
That bulging forehead is a fatty organ used to focus echolocation, and belugas can change its shape on purpose — flattening it, bulging it, wobbling it. It doubles as facial expression.
Sailors called them sea canaries
They are so loud and so constant that whalers could hear them through a wooden hull. Whistles, clangs, chirps, moos, squeaks — belugas rarely shut up.
They take a summer spa day
Once a year belugas gather in shallow river estuaries and rub themselves against gravel to scrub off old skin. It's the only whale known to moult like this.
Born grey, earn the white
Calves are dark grey or brownish and slowly fade to white over five to eight years. A pure white beluga is an adult.
They can swim backwards
Very few whales manage it. Belugas can, and they use it to manoeuvre in shallow estuaries and around ice.
Wait, really?
- ✦
Beluga comes from the Russian word for white.
- ✦
One captive beluga, NOC, spontaneously altered his calls to imitate human speech patterns closely enough that a diver climbed out of the water thinking someone had shouted at him.
- ✦
They can swim in water only slightly deeper than their own body.
What it sounds like
You're hearing calls and whistles.
The full orchestra — whistles, squeaks, clicks, trills, jaw claps and door-hinge creaks.
Recording: Fisheries Research Agency (Japan) for NOAA Fisheries · Public domain · Source
Where you might see one
Churchill in Manitoba every summer, the St. Lawrence estuary in Quebec, and the Alaskan and Russian Arctic.
The trouble
- Sea ice loss
- Pollution in river estuaries where they gather
- Ship noise and disturbance
- Prey shifts as the Arctic warms
One real thing
Belugas gather in rivers, so what goes down a drain inland ends up where they raise their calves. Keep chemicals out of storm drains.
More ways to helpYour field notes
Read about the beluga whale and add it to your passport. Then show what you learned with the field check, and collect its trading card.
Your passport is saved on this device only. It's never sent anywhere.
Field check
A question about what you just read
One question from the beluga whale's page. Get it right to collect its trading card. If not, you'll see the answer and where to find it, and can try another.