How Do Beluga Whales Reproduce? A Detailed Explanation of the Reproduction Process and Methods

Compared with other cetaceans, the only obvious difference of the beluga whale is that it can molt when its skin takes on a pale yellow tone in summer. It usually swims rather slowly and is hard to spot among waves and floating ice. So how do beluga whales reproduce?

1. How Do Beluga Whales Reproduce

The beluga whale breeding season is generally from late February to early April, and the gestation period lasts 14 months, though delayed implantation of the embryo may also occur. The calves are born on summer days in May to July, and newborn calves are entirely dark gray.

2. The Beluga Whale's Living Habits

1. Vocalization

The beluga whale is the finest “ventriloquism” expert in the cetacean kingdom, able to produce hundreds of sounds, and the sounds it makes are extremely varied. To understand beluga whale sounds, scientists carried out on-site underwater recordings at the river estuary deltas that are beluga migration destinations, and the results were utterly beyond imagination: they actually heard the roars of fierce beasts, the mooing of cows, the grunting of pigs, the neighing of horses, the chirping of birds, the screaming of women, the groaning of sick people, and the crying of babies - truly a dazzling array, nothing too strange to exist. Beluga whales can also produce sounds like hinges, bells, and steamboats. The beluga whale's ceaseless “singing” is in fact entertaining itself, and is also a form of communication between companions; this is an important part of their summer migration.

2. Natural Enemies

The known natural enemies are killer whales and polar bears. Polar bears attack beluga whales in the same way they attack seals, generally waiting around the breathing holes of beluga whales trapped in ice, delivering a heavy blow with their powerful front paws, and then dragging them onto the ice to eat. Killer whales arrive around August; beluga whales can usually distinguish their sounds, and moreover, the killer whale's prominent flippers hinder its own agile movement in the ice, so killer whales attack beluga whales in a different way.

3. Feeding

Beluga whales enjoy a variety of prey, including smelt, flounder, sculpin, salmon, and cod, and also eat invertebrates such as crabs, shrimp, clams, worms, octopus, squid, and other benthic marine organisms. Because they do not have many large sharp teeth for biting prey, they generally suck their food whole into their mouths, so the prey cannot be too large, otherwise they may choke.

4. Migration

Every year in July, tens of thousands of beluga whales set out from the Arctic region, beginning their summer migration. They travel in groups of as few as a few individuals or as many as tens of thousands, surging toward their destination, leisurely frolicking and constantly performing along the way. Their migration destinations are mostly concentrated in places at higher northern latitudes. However, some mischievous beluga whales seem to have a habit of wandering off alone, and sometimes a beluga whale will head south by itself, swimming several hundred kilometers, showing up at the Heilongjiang River estuary, the Firth of Forth in Scotland, or the Rhine River, bringing people an unexpected surprise.

The vast majority of beluga whales in the world live in the seas north of Europe, the United States' Alaska, and Canada. Several areas where beluga whales gather have become whale-watching sanctuaries, including the lower St. Lawrence River in eastern Canada and the Churchill River estuary in western Hudson Bay.