The Tales Of The Beluga Whales

Researches on 90 different Cetaceans have revealed amazing facts about these magnificent animals. It was noted that the size of the brain had a lot to do with the social behavior of these animals which were similar to human interactions in many ways.  As human beings our greatest ability to colonize the length and breadth of the planet has been due to our social interaction and our ability to cultivate complex social relationships. The Beluga Whales, the Dolphins and other Cetaceans have exceptionally large brain size compared to other animals and these animals too have been able to create a complex marine based social culture.

The Beluga whales have been found to use complex vocalization. These whales are also known as the “canaries of the sea” due to their whistles, squeaking, squawking which are actually regional dialects and it has been found that they use unique signature whistles to call each other or in other words these unique whistles act as names.The Beluga whales live in groups called the pod. A pod may consist of 2 to 25 whales, which could be males and females. Mostly a single pod is headed by a male. However, it has been noted that mothers tend to create a separate pod during their calving season.The Belugas are extremely social and it shows during migration or hunting when smaller pods join together to form larger groups from 200 to nearly 10000 Belugas. Their social interaction does not just stop at joining other Belugas but Belugas have also been found to migrate with bowhead whales.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405093217.htm