Relaxing With The Beluga Whales by mutant_bunny 2011/09/15 14:13
July is holiday time for the thousands of belugas that gather in the shallow inlets of Canada's Arctic.
July is holiday time for the thousands of belugas that gather in the shallow inlets of Canada's Arctic.
mutant_bunny 2011/09/15 14:24
They come into the relatively warm fresh water where they are safe from their main enemy, the killer whale to give birth, moult and play.
The congregations are noisy, for the whales constantly chatter with chirps, clangs, screams, grunts and whistles - behaviour that has earned them the nickname 'sea canaries'.
In the estuaries, they play with stones and fronds of seaweed. Large stones are held in the mouth or balanced on the top of the head, and seaweed is draped over the body. As soon as the carrier is spotted, other whales bump and jostle it until the stone is dislodged.
Females have been seen swimming with planks of wood on their backs. They are thought to be whales that have lost a calf and have adopted the wood as surrogate babies.
They come into the relatively warm fresh water where they are safe from their main enemy, the killer whale to give birth, moult and play.
The congregations are noisy, for the whales constantly chatter with chirps, clangs, screams, grunts and whistles - behaviour that has earned them the nickname 'sea canaries'.
In the estuaries, they play with stones and fronds of seaweed. Large stones are held in the mouth or balanced on the top of the head, and seaweed is draped over the body. As soon as the carrier is spotted, other whales bump and jostle it until the stone is dislodged.
Females have been seen swimming with planks of wood on their backs. They are thought to be whales that have lost a calf and have adopted the wood as surrogate babies.
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