Most of the mating occurs between February and May, although some mating has been observed at other times of the year. Generally female Belugas stop giving birth when they’re about 25 years old. On average the females give birth to a single calf every 3 years. Male Belugas become sexually mature somewhere between 4 and 7 years old females can sometimes take a little longer, up to 9 years. What are Beluga Whales mating rituals like?

While in a dive, blood is diverted away from other organs to keep oxygen going to the lungs, brain, and heart, which require a constant supply. Most dives usually last up to 5 minutes, but Belugas can in fact stay underwater up until just shy of 20 minutes. Like other whales, Belugas reduce their heart beats from the usual 100 per minute down to somewhere between 10 and 20 in order to conserve oxygen. They can go up to about 20 km an hour, sustaining that speed for about 15 minutes. The deepest recorded Beluga dive was 872 metres. How fast can Beluga Whales swim? How long can they stay underwater?īelugas are fairly slow swimmers, usually travelling at speeds somewhere between 3 and 9km per hour. They are known to jump ship, switching easily to new pods. During the summer, pods join together, the thousands of Belugas forming massive groups in estuaries for calving season. Belugas are quite playful, chasing each other around for fun, spitting water at each other (and humans), rubbing up against each other, calling to each other, making toys out of objects they find in the water, and swimming up next to boats to check out the people riding inside. How social are Beluga Whales?īelugas are very social, forming pods of anywhere from 2 to 25 members (the average is 10), led by a dominant male. Instead, the whales will suck their food in, making sure its small enough not to get stuck in their throats. When hunting fish, they Belugas will group together and herd a school of their prey into shallow waters, making it hard for them to escape. The first is to scrounge along a seabed, going as deep as 40 metres, although they can go as deep as 700 metres if required. Belugas have teeth, but they’re not particularly long or sharp, and they aren’t really used when scrounging along the ocean floor. All Belugas eat fish, but some will also eat small invertebrates like shrimp, snails, crabs, or octopi. Beluga Whales generally hunt in one of two ways. The diet of a particular Beluga depends on where in the world it lives and the season. Name: Beluga Whale ( Delphinapterus leucas)Īppearance: White, grey How do Beluga Whales hunt?

Beluga whale