The ocean, as an area on earth that we humans are far from fully explored, still has too many secrets, and all kinds of marine life are also full of charm.
If we ordinary people want to get close to the marine world and marine animals, it seems that we can only go to the marine animal hall of the zoo or the polar ocean world, where there are not only a variety of living marine creatures for human viewing, but also a variety of performance projects.
But now most zoos and aquariums are no longer focused on animal performances, but instead focus more on behavioral abundance and animal welfare viewing interactions, that is, allowing visitors to watch the keepers or staff interact with marine animals at close range, including feeding, playing, etc.
In aquariums around the world, penguins, polar bears, dolphins, sharks, sea lions, killer whales, beluga whales, etc. are very common star animals, the others are put aside, today we will talk about beluga whales.
Delphinapterus leucas, the only species in the genus Dipraneae, the family Cetaceae, and beluga whales, is currently recognized by nearly thirty subspecies. Adult beluga whales are 3 to 5.5 meters long, mainly distributed in shallow waters near the Arctic Circle, and have seasonal migration behavior, but still not too far away from the Arctic Circle.
The genus name Delphinapterus means "dolphin without dorsal fin", the species word leucas means "white", and the Latin scientific name literally translates to "white dolphin without dorsal fin".
Some friends may wonder, isn't it a whale, how can it be a dolphin? There is no mistake, in fact, biologically speaking, all dolphins and freshwater dolphins belong to toothed whales (the taxonomy is toothed whale small order Odontoceti), and beluga whales have many differences from dolphins in appearance and habits, and are more similar to the one-horned whale Monodon monoceros, so they are divided into the horned whale family.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > distinctive beluga whale</h1>
In addition to the dorsal fin, beluga whales have many differences in appearance from other cetaceans.
First of all, we have the impression that the fin-like forelimbs of whales and dolphins have a convergent evolution with the shark's pectoral fin, similar to the curved crescent shape, which is very helpful for fast swimming. But the forelimbs of beluga whales are different, the front end is very wide, it looks like a flat square, you can clearly see it by looking at the photo below.
In addition, the seven cervical vertebrae of beluga whales do not heal together, unlike most other cetaceans. This neck structure allows beluga whales to turn their heads left and right, turning their heads to see the side without turning around, helping to observe the environment, find prey or avoid possible dangers in advance.
Coupled with the specialized flattened flippers, beluga whales have become one of the very few cetaceans that can swim backwards upside down, and can also complete many difficult actions, but cannot completely jump out of the water like dolphins.
Beluga whales have a stomata a little behind the top of their heads, surrounded by groups of muscles that can be controlled, and they are free to choose to close or open the breathing holes.
Unlike slender dolphins, beluga whales look particularly rounded (fat) because they are more northward and colder than most cetaceans, and 40 to 50 percent of their body weight comes from the fat layer. The fat layer on adult beluga whales can be as thick as 15 centimeters, which can both provide them with energy and isolate their internal organs from the cold sea water.
When active in the surface area, beluga whales have a heart rate of about 100 beats per minute, but when they dive underwater to feed, the heart rate drops sharply to 12 to 20 beats per minute to cope with the cold of the sea and reduce oxygen and heat consumption.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > predators who have given up their sense of smell</h1>
In terms of feeding habits, beluga whales are standard opportunists, catching and eating fish such as cod, salmon, herring, flounder, dufar, and invertebrates such as squid, octopus, snails, shrimp and crabs, and sand silkworms. Beluga whales in captivity in aquariums eat 15 to 27 kilograms of food a day, equivalent to about 2.5% of their body weight.
Wild beluga whales rely mainly on hearing (echo localization) and vision to find food, their heads that can be twisted from side to side can provide them with a good view, and the highly developed auditory cortex can ensure that beluga whales hardly miss any of the surrounding sounds.
In addition, beluga whales have different types of chemoreceptors in their mouths, which can distinguish different tastes in seawater. But there are gains and losses, and beluga whales lack olfactory bulbs and olfactory nerves in their brains, which indicates that they have no sense of smell and do not need a sense of smell to assist in action.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > whale is alive, "play" is right</h1>
Everyone knows that cetaceans are highly intelligent animals, and beluga whales are no exception. They are sociable social animals, often choosing to live in groups, each group containing 2 to 30 members, and there may even be hundreds of beluga whales gathering together during migration.
However, the group structure of beluga whales is not rigorous, except for the leading adult male beluga whales, other members are often left at random, often with individual beluga whales or small families acting alone from the group, or joining another new group.
There is a lot of interaction between individual beluga whales every day, including chasing and playing together, touching each other's bodies, singing together, and spitting water at each other, which is a way for beluga whales to play. When hunting in groups, beluga whale individuals develop cooperative behaviors and jointly surround the fishing class.
And the curiosity of beluga whales is very strong, which is also a manifestation of the high brain index of wild animals. Wild beluga whales in nature, if they encounter a boat driven by humans, will often walk together on the side of the boat, and even have a good interaction with the diving operators.
Highly intelligent animals also have in common that they will "play", after eating and drinking enough, they will carry out entertainment that has nothing to do with basic survival, the pursuit of spiritual satisfaction and pleasure, such as beluga whales will look for toys in the water, including corals, sea urchins, large shellfish, and the skeletons of other animals.
But this can be a disaster for beluga whales, as many beluga whales have been observed to be entangled in fishing nets, floats and some garbage drifting into the sea when looking for toys in the water, resulting in injuries or deaths.
Since the first beluga whale was exhibited in the United States in 1861, they have quickly become regular visitors to major aquariums, museums, zoos around the world, and are known for their interaction with visitors.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > treated differently</h1>
The beluga whales in the aquarium have a particularly playful behavior, and they tend to show friendliness and meekness when dealing with adults, such as using their heads and backs to approach tourists through thick glass, or nodding at tourists with their mouths open, moving slowly and softly.
But it is different when facing children, beluga whales will be more playful, and often will be startled, such as suddenly opening their mouths and suddenly approaching, or suddenly turning their heads to scare children when swimming slowly, and seem to like to see human children being scared to cry.
Not only that, if the top of the glass window is not sealed, the beluga whale will also calculate the angle by looking at the distance, spraying a high place with a mouthful of water in its mouth (not with a jet hole), and the water flow will fly out of the top of the display area in a parabola state, accurately hitting the target, and rarely making mistakes.
And this water spraying behavior is mostly aimed at children, and the reason for this difference may be that they like human children, or they may treat small people as "toys". Of course, it is not excluded that beluga whales simply hate bear children, after all, their IQ is very high!