© WWF-Netherlands / Vincent Kneefel
Beluga whale
behaviours
Discover more about beluga whale behaviours – how they communicate with each other, feed and mate in the Arctic Ocean.
© naturepl.com / Doug Allan / WWF
Communication: How do beluga whales communicate?
Beluga whales are known as the canaries of the sea. They are very vocal animals and can produce a series of sounds to communicate with one another: chirps, clicks, whistles, squeals, groans, buzzes, trills and roars are some of the call types identified. Broadly, emotive calls are divided into two types, whistles and pulses, and range between 0.1 to 12 kHz in frequency. Individual belugas are also thought to have signature calls through their diverse vocal range and can hold dialogues over distances.
Beluga whales also have a bulbous forehead, called a melon. The melon is capable of changing shape and is thought to be important for belugas’ ability to send and interpret sound underwater. Belugas also have a wide range of facial expressions. They are extremely interactive animals and scientists have found evidence that they are capable of forming complex societies among other belugas. Geographic differences in communication between beluga populations have been documented by scientists.
Having evolved to live in the Arctic’s icy waters, belugas echolocation system receives signals off of the surface of the water. They are able to detect areas that are ice free, which helps them find air pockets so they can breathe.
As social animals, adult male belugas tend to be found in groups of six to 20 animals. Adult females tend to form close bonds with newborns and juveniles, sometimes joining other females to create nursery groups.
Sometimes different groups may come together to form larger herds – sometimes even more than a thousand belugas.
Listen to a beluga whale pod making calls in the wild.
Audio via © Peter M. Scheifele, University of Cincinnati Medical Center (CC)
Diet: What do beluga whales eat?
Beluga whales feed in both open water (pelagic) and bottom (benthic) habitats. Belugas also feed in both shallow and deepwater areas – some have been recorded diving to more than 350 metres to feed. However, scientists have found that coastal areas are especially important for beluga whales’ diet.
Location and season determine the audience of food available for belugas. Some of the staples of beluga whales’ diet include: salmon, capelin, herring, shrimp, Arctic cod, flounder, crabs and molluscs.
Beluga whales tend to hunt alone but cooperative hunting behaviours have been observed. They tend to divide their day between resting and feeding. A typical hunting sequence for beluga whales includes: searching and hunting. Belugas begin by searching for prey with slow directed movement combined with passive acoustic localization. When belugas are in hunt mode, they display short bursts of speed and rapid direction changes using echolocation for orientation and capture of prey.
© Nick Caloyianis/National Geographic Creative / WWF-Canada
Mating and reproduction: Beluga whale life history
Little is known about the mating behavior or mating season of beluga whales. Research suggests that mating occurs primarily in late winter or early spring when most belugas are still on their wintering grounds or on their spring migration. However, mating behaviour has also been observed at other times during the year.
Females beluga whales become sexually mature sometime between eight and 13-years-old. Male beluga whales are older.
It takes about three years from the time of conception until a female beluga whale is finished nursing. A female beluga whale will be pregnant with a single calf for a 14–14.5 months gestation period and will give birth in late spring-early summer. Mothers then nurse their young for up to two years with milk that has high caloric content.
A newborn beluga whale is about 1.6 meters in length. They are also a creamy-grey color that quickly turns to a dark brown or blue-gray. As the beluga whale calf grows, they become progressively lighter changing to gray, light gray. At 14-years-old for females and 18-years-old for males, belugas finally become their distinctive pure white. However, some females will retain shades of grey long into adulthood.
How long do belugas live? In nature, beluga whales typically live to be between 30- to 35- years-old. Scientists have determined this by studying beluga whale tooth layers.
© Doc White / Ocean Magic Photography
