Beluga Whale

It is fascinating to watch the Beluga Whale playing with a school of fish in the ocean. She is so unique because of her friendliness, intelligence, and curiosity.

The beluga whale is a friendly and social whale that forms groups of around ten whales. However, on summer migration they can form large groups of thousands (similar to what happens when they feed and give birth in Churchill Bay and the Seal River Estuaries).

In addition to pollution, habitat degradation, harassment, interactions with commercial and recreational fisheries, oil and gas exploration, disease, predation from killer whales, and other human activities, beluga whales are vulnerable to many stressors and threats.

Populations of this species continue to decline. The number of beluga whales in Cook Inlet is estimated to be 279 at the moment.