Cetacean Lifestyle

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Beluga

This whale is unmistakable when adult: it is all white or whitish grey.
Calves, however, are usually gray.The head is unlike that of any other cetacean.
Like most toothed whales it has a melon, an oily, fatty lump of tissue
found at the center of the forehead. But the Beluga's melon is extremely
bulbous and even malleable.The Beluga is able to change the shape of
its head by blowing air around its sinuses. Again unlike many dolphins
and whales, the vertebrae in the neck are not fused together, allowing
the animal flexibility to turn its head laterally. The rostrum has about
8 to 10 teeth on each side of the jaw.

It has a dorsal ridge rather than a dorsal fin.The absence of the dorsal fin
is reflected in the genus name of the species - apterus is the Greek word for
"wingless". The evolutionary preference for a dorsal ridge rather than a fin
is believed by scientists to be adaptation to under-ice conditions,

Facts

Scientific Name:

Delphinapterus leucas

Length:

5 m / 15 ft

Weight:

1,600 kg / 3,500 lb

Age:

up to 50 years

Total Population:

100,000 individuals

Map Range:

Taxonomically it is a member of the river dolphin
group and the only one that actually lives in the
ocean and saltwater estuaries, rather than inhabiting
exclusively freshwater systems.

Captivity

Belugas were the first Cetaceans ever
to be displayed in captivity.

Current Belugas in Captivity

Seaworld San Diego.
Seaworld San Antonio.
Seaworld Orlando.
Marineland Niagara Falls.
Vancouver Aquarium.
Oceanografic.
Mystic Marine Life Aquarium .
Georgia Aquarium .
Shedd Aquarium .
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium .
Mediterraneo Marine Park .
Aquatoria.
Essentuki Dolphinarium .
Livadiyskiy Dolphinarium.
Moscow Dolphinarium .
St. Petersburg Dolphinarium.
Sochi Dolphinarium.
Vladivostok Oceanarium.
Utrish Marine Station .
Dolphin Park.
Merryland.
Dolphinland.
Dolphin Therapy Center.
Taun Chau Island Resort .
Safari World.
Nat'l Museum of Marine Biology.
Nagoya Public Aquarium.
Kamogawa Sea World.
Hakkeijima Sea Paradise.
AQUAS.
Qingdao Polar Ocean World .
LHT Pole Aquarium .
Harbin Sun Asia Polarium .
Guangzhou Zoo.
Fushun Royal Ocean World.
Chang Feng Ocean World.

Past Belugas in Captivity:

Seaworld Ohio.
Battery Aquarium.
Coney Island
New York Aquarium