Why Was This Beluga Whale Doing This

Do you like beluga whales?

Yes, I love them. I find them irresistable. But the joy at seeing them is always tinged with sadness if they are in captivity. No cetacean does well in captivity.When I was a little boy of maybe six or seven years of age, I was very disappointed at my parents’ diapproval of my plan to block all the doors and windows of our house, and turn the tap on until it was full like a pool and then release some Commerson’s dolphins into it for me to play with. I thought it very unfair that they rejected the idea out of hand when I had been reasonable enough to select the smallest cetacean in the world for my project. however, in fulness of time I realised that they were quite right, of course. It is cruel to keep cetaceans in captivity, it only ends in tears, and theirs are no less valid just because they are wet already.

Are beluga whales dolphins?

Ms. Collister is essentially correct, tho’, since the question was specifically posted (or reposted) to me, I figured I’d toss in a couple additional comments.There are 4 basic “types” of Cetaceans (the “Family” to which all whales, dolphins and porpoises belong*): Baleen Whales (“Filter feeders” with 2 blowholes and no teeth - they use baleen - a cartilaginous type material, to strain food out of water taken into their mouths), Toothed Whales (1 blowhole and teeth), Dolphins (a type of toothed whale, with one blowhole and conical teeth), and Porpoises (another type of toothed whale, with one blowhole and spatulate teeth).Distinguishing Baleen Whales from Toothed Whales is easy.Distinguishing Dolphins from Porpoises is also easy (even if you can’t see their teeth, you can usually distinguish them by their dorsal fins, with porpoises usually having more angular/triangular dorsal fins than dolphins).Distinguishing a large dolphin from a small toothed whale, well, that’s where it gets a tad arbitrary. We call Orcas orcinus a “Killer Whale”, but it’s really a dolphin. Ditto with “Pilot Whales” and “False Killer Whales” - they’re all dolphins.BUT, a Beluga, which is smaller, generally, than any of those is… a Whale. Ditto a Narwal/Narwhal.We do this just to confuse people. Apparently it works…(* Note, in traditional taxonomy, “Cetacea” is a “Family” classification. In cladistics, “Cetacea” is classed as an “Infraorder” - it can get confusing)

What do beluga whales eat?

It varies according to region as they basically eat what sea organisms exist where they live. Diet ranges from fish (salmon, herring, cod, capelin) to cephalopods (squid and octopus) to crustaceans (shrimp and crabs) to marine worms and even large zooplankton. Data has shown the belugas frequently feed on the ocean bottom.

Is a beluga whale a dolphin, porpoise, or a whale?

Ah, the joys of vernacular animal names! This question perfectly illustrates why we biologists need jargon, and why scientific names and a nice little bit of phylogenetic information will tell you so much more about the animal, even if you are a lay person, than vernacular names.It turns out that the term "whale" describes two very different groups of cetaceans:1. The Odontoceti, or toothed whales, which comprise the sperm whale, belugas, narwhals, orcas, dolphins and porpoises. 2. The Mysticeti, which are the baleen whales, such as humpback whales, blue whales, right whales, etc.From: Pseudogenization of the tooth gene enamelysin (MMP20) in the common ancestor of extant baleen whalesSo, even though the sperm whale, and the killer whale and beluga whale, etc. are all whales, they are closer to dolphins than to the baleen whales in the phylogenetic tree. Thus, the term 'whale' is not that important, because basically it means a medium to large size cetacean.Incidentally, beluga whales and narwhals are closely related and are the only members of the family Monodontidae (Monodontidae).

How do beluga whales mate?

With a penis and a vagina, same as all mammals.“They mate underwater, usually belly to belly, while either stationary or swimming.”- Reproducing | Whales