Beluga Whale
· Beluga Whale Habitat
· Beluga Whale Food
· Beluga Whale Behaviour
· Conservation Status
· Beluga Whale Pictures
· Beluga Whale Facts

Beluga Whale Habitat

Beluga whale habitat: geography

The Beluga whale habitat consists of Artic and sub-Arctic water between 50° N and 80° N. Around 40,000 individuals live in the Beaufort Sea, 28,000 in the Canadian High Arctic, 25,000 in Hudson Bay, and 18,000 in the Bering Sea. You can also find an isolated population that inhabits the St. Lawrence River estuary and the Saguenay fjord in Canada, near the town of Tadoussac in Quebec. This population is no larger than 1,000 individuals. Estimations show that the total number of Beluga whales is around 100,000. In 2006, a young Beluga whale was found in central Alaska, almost 1,000 miles from the nearest Beluga whale habitat. It had most likely followed migrating salmon up the Tanana River.

Beluga whale habitat: migration

Beluga whales have one summer habitat and one winter habitat. During the warm season, grounds, estuaries, bays and other shallow inlets are all common examples of Beluga whale habitats. The Beluga whales move to these locations during spring, and stay until ice starts to clog up in fall. During fall, a majority of the Beluga whales will migrate in the same direction as the advancing ice-pack, but some individuals prefer to stay under the iced area.

Beluga whale habitat: surviving under the ice

For Beluga whales living beneath the ice, it is very important to find ice leads and so called polynyas, since the whales need to breathe oxygen from the air. (Polynyas are patches of open water surrounded by ice.) Beluga whales can also seek out pockets of air trapped beneath the ice layer. Their ability to find even the thinnest slithers of open water in this densely iced Beluga whale habitat is truly amazing. Over 95% of a Beluga whale habitat can be covered with ice; the Beluga whale will still manage to seek out the remaining 5% where it is possible to breathe.

Beluga whale habitat: depth

The Beluga whale habitat reaches down to at least 2,000 feet. Beluga whales spend most of their times catching fish, cephalopods and crustaceans over the seabed down to around 1,000 feet, but they are know to occasionally dive at least twice as deep.