The beluga whale is found in the arctic and sub-arctic regions of the world including Russia, Alaska, Canada, Norway, Greenland and other northern European countries. It is typically found in shallow waters to depths of 3,000 feet. It feeds on a wide variety of fish, often suction feeding animals off the ocean bottom such as crabs, clams and worms. It is an opportunistic feeder known to prey on about 100 different kinds of primarily bottom-dwelling animals.

Beluga whales are warm-blooded mammals that breathe air through the blowhole on the top of their head. Their blowhole is covered by a muscular flap which provides a water-tight seal. Beluga whales cannot breathe through their mouths and can hold their breath for 20-25 minutes. They are extremely social animals, living, hunting and migrating in groups called pods.

The beluga whales are the most vocal of the toothed whale. Arctic fisherman say they can hear the beluga whales’ sounds coming from miles away, and they can feel the vibration of their sounds coming through the hulls of their fishing boats. This behavior has earned them the nickname “sea canary.”

See the Beluga Whales in the Cold Water Quest at the Aquarium.

• The beluga whale is the only whale with a flexible neck.
• A beluga whale uses its pectoral flippers (forelimbs) mainly to steer and stop.
• The beluga whale is also called the white whale. The word beluga comes from the Russian word for white, “belukha.”
• Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, not the beluga whale.
• This whale has the ability to swim backward.

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