Species at Risk Project: Beluga Whales

Scientific Classification

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Monodontidae

Genus: Delphinapterus

Species: D. leucas

Delphinapterus - "whale without a fin"

leucas - "white"

At Risk Status

Species Characteristics

Adaptations

Food Web

Beluga whales are mainly eaten by Killer whales, Polar bears, Greenland sharks, and hunted by humans. They are a predator of capelin, Young salmon, Arctic cod, herring, smelt, flounder, shrimp, snails, worms, and crabs.

Natural Habitats and Current Range

Arctic Ocean and Subarctic, Atlantic Ocean, and adjoining seas such as Okhotsk sea, Bering sea, Gulf of Alaska, Beaufort sea, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Habitat Loss

There hasn't been much habitat loss as Beluga whales live in the oceans. However, a few reasons contributing to habitat loss are:

• Oil exploration in lakes
• Damming rivers
• Noise pollution caused by ships, which affect their echo-location hunting and finding method
• Capturing Beluga whales from seas and putting them in captivity in marine zoological parks (Sea World, Marine Land) and aquariums

Reasons for at

risk status

Details about Whaling

Whaling is the industry of killing whales

for oil, meat, and whalebone, otherwise known as "Fishing for Whales". It is cruel and unnecessary.

Fortunately, there are laws to limit

the amount of Beluga whales that can

be killed.

2 million great whales

were killed in the last

century, some species almost

hunted to extinction. The concern

of extinction led to a worldwide

ban on commercial whaling

in 1986. Despite this, some

1400 whales are still killed

every year using methods

little changed in a hundred years.

Whalers from Norway and Japan, for example,

will kill over 1400 whales this year in commercial

and "scientific" whaling operations. in 2003, Iceland continued whaling, killing over 30 minke whales for "research."

A harpoon is fired from a cannon and

penetrates the whale's body about 30 cm, causing massive shock and killing it. Then the animal is hauled to the whaling boat by a line. The basic killing method remains the same for over 100 years.

Although the harpoon is destructive, it fails to kill the whale instantaneously. Data shows that death time take 2 to 3 minutes, and some over an hour - a lot of time to suffer and feel pain. Norway reported that 80.7% of minke whales were killed "instantaneously" during the 2002 hunt. Japan's Antarctic minke whale hunt in 2002/2003 reported 40.2% killed "instantaneously." These are lies. When the first harpoon doesn’t kill the whale, then another harpoon or rifle is fired to kill it.

Whalers get really close to the whales for successful harpooning. Whales have not evolved as a prey species and are not adapted to being chased. The pursuit itself causes physical and psychological stress, which may lead to fatal syndromes such as Exertional Myopathy, a condition that scientists believe may prove fatal, even to animals that evade capture.

Unfortunately some whales are struck but are not reeled in, which results in bleeding and damage to internal organs. They may be severely injured that they may have difficulty feeding or breeding, or it will die from the wounds.

The gunners themselves admit that if whales could scream, the industry would stop, for nobody would be able to stand it.

Adaptations for diving and going without oxygen intake for long periods, make it difficult to determine when the animal is dead. Whales may therefore survive and experience pain over a period much longer than suggested by the current IWC criteria for death in whales. So...are some whales still alive when hauled onto the whaling ship?

Eskimos hunt Belugas for food and other needs, and can be used to make their lipstick.

Emotions

• They can suffer a great deal of pain as they are being harpooned

• Become stressed when in captivity. Can display stereotyped behaviours: swim in circles and or figure eights

• They are highly intelligent, social creatures

What is Being Done:

• The International Whaling Commision (IWC) The IWC monitors whale populations through scientific groups and funds a variety of whale research.

• IUCN/ The World Conservation Union: a worldwide conservation organization encouraging a worldwide approach to [whale] conservation.

• The Endangered Species Act (ESA) 1973 seeks to stop the extinction of wild animals and plants in the United States, other nations, and at sea.

• Legal Protection: a population of belugas in the St. Lawrence River has been legally protected since 1983. In 1988 the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Environment Canada (a government agency that oversees national parks) implemented the St. Lawrence Action Plan.

• Whale watching expeditions bring people close to wild whales and help people learn about them.

• Marine zoological parks provides the opportunity for the public to learn about these animals and how human activities impact their survival. Our opinion is that these parks are wrong. Beluga whales belong in oceans and swim for miles and miles.

What can YOU do?

There isn't much you can do about pollution, ships, and oil spills, but we can all do something about the captivity of animals:

Write to the Vancouver Authorities, asking that the capture of whales from Canadian waters and their importation from other countries for display in marine parks be banned. Also tell the Vancouver Authorities that you believe that in captivity whales live in barren pools that bear no resemblance to their natural environment and that they should free their whales and dolphins after a process of rehabilitation and retraining. Write to: The Honorable Herb Dhaliwal MP, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, House of Commons, Parliament Buildings, Wellington St, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Boycott marine facilities and aquariums.

You can also sign petitions and take part in protests when available!

Websites used:

www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/beluga/longevity.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_whale#Diet

www.vanaqua.org/learn/aquafacts/cetaceans/belugas

http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/whaling

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/species-especes/beluga-Hudson-eng.htm

http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=81

Species at Risk:

Beluga Whales

By Slina F. and Emily Walter

The End :)

Belugas in captivity

Belugas in a pod

European and American hunting caused a large decrease in Beluga, Arctic population in Canada in the 18th - 19th century.

Viral, bacterial, fungal infections,

skin diseases, tumors, heart diseases, urogenital disorders, respiratory disorders and possibly even cancer all because of toxic contamination in habitat waters.

Hunting numbers have increased with 200-550 annually in Alaska and 1,000 in Canada.

EASTERN HUDSON BAY (specifically): hunting, alterations to habitats, noise pollution caused by ships

Industrial pollution in the St. Lawrence river has created high levels of toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, which has been stored in the blubber of the whale, and tissues, including important organs such as kidneys, liver, and muscles (bioaccumulation).

Decline in food resources (less prey fish)

Low birth rates

Whaling

Decline in Beluga immune system

Video of wild Belugas in Newfoundland:

HEAD:

NECK: lots of flexibility

TEETH: tearing & grasping rather than chewing

MELON: the forehead area, composed of fats, and changes shape when producing sounds

EYES: small, at each corner of the mouth

EARS: openings behind the eyes

BLOWHOLE: where it breaths

COLOUR:

DORSAL FIN:

• calves are born dark gray to bluish-brownish gray
• become gradually paler due to reduction of melanin in skin
• attain their white colour upon sexual maturity, which is at around 13

NO dorsal fin--> less surface area for heat loss, and can swim

more easily below ice sheets to find breathing spots

FLUKES:

• tough lobes of the tail
• no bones
• surrounded by nerves

BODY SHAPE:

Robust, stocky, with

thick folds of blubber

FLIPPERS:

• Pectoral-->have same skeletal elements of land mammals but shortened and modified
• rounded, slightly upcurled at tips, and paddle-like
• used to steer and, with the help of flukes, stop

SKIN:

SLEEPING:

SWIMMING:

No hair and

undergoes a seasonal molt

Size:

Half of their brain is working, half isn’t.

They keep one eye open to avoid predators.

Generally slow swimmers, but are adapted to be highly maneuverable and can swim forwards and backwards

St. Lawrence Estuary

Eastern Hudson Bay

Cumberland Sound

Eastern High Arctic

Threatened

Special Concern

Quebec, Atlantic Ocean

Endangered

Nunavut, Arctic Ocean

Nunavut, Quebec,

Arctic & Atlantic Ocean

• Adult males--3.4 to 4.6 m in length, 3307 lbs
• Adult females-- 3 to 4m, 2998 lbs
• They reach full size at about 10 years.

BREATHING:

DIVING:

-breaths through a single blowhole

-holds its breath underwater for 15 minutes

-inhales quickly at the surface

-breaths every 15 minutes

-capable of very deep dives, but only dive about 20 m

-they can last 10 m but can stay underwater for more than 15 m

-slower heart rate when diving

Endangered

Ungava Bay

Western Hudson Bay

Southeast Baffin Island

Non-Active

Special Concern

Eastern Beaufort Sea

Not at Risk

BLUBBER:

Nunavut, Manitoba, Ontario

Arctic & Atlantic Ocean

Nunavut, Arctic Ocean

Quebec, Arctic &

Atlantic Ocean

Northwest Territories,

Arctic Ocean

A thick layer of fat that is 40% of their weight serves as insulation and an energy reserve.