When my family visited Mystic Seaport (read about it on the TechnoTourist
blog), we also stopped by the Mystic Aquarium, where whales are protected
rather than hunted. In addition to
housing the typical species of fish, sting rays, sharks, penguins, and sea
lions, Mystic Aquarium is also home to several beluga whales.
Beluga Whales
Male belugas usually weigh 1,600-2,500 pounds and average
14-16 feet long. Belugas prefer cold
water; in the wild, they live in the Arctic Ocean and nearby subarctic regions
of the Northern Hemisphere. They are
born gray and lighten to white as they age.
Belugas are easy to differentiate from other whales; a
bulging "melon" is located above the upper jaw and they have no dorsal
fins. To help navigate arctic ice, belugas
can swim backwards and have flexible necks that allow them to bump holes in the
ice.
Juno was born in 2002 and is the aquarium's youngest
beluga. He's on loan from SeaWorld
Orlando and was the most interactive
with his human visitors, and of course, he enjoys mariachi
bands.
Mystic's Beluga
Habitat
Four beluga whales live outdoors in a one-acre habitat
called Arctic Coast that holds over 750,000 gallons of water. A 2007 study was conducted by students from
the University of Connecticut to determine if disturbing background noise was caused by the pool's architecture, pumps,
motors, and structural material.
This study was important because dolphins and whales rely on
sounds to find food and each other and stay safe from predators. This is especially true for belugas, who are
known as "canaries of the sea" because of their huge variety of
vocalizations. Hydrophones (underwater
microphones) have been used in conjunction with behavioral observations to help
researchers determine what some of the vocalizations mean.
It is thought that vocal monitoring could increase
understanding of stress. One such case
is the population
of belugas that live in the St. Lawrence Seaway. Noise pollution from shipping and whale
watching, in addition to chemical pollution, may be causing the whales to lose
their hearing and causing additional stress on the popluation.
If you really love belugas and the arctic you can spend
$6,900 to spend a week observing them at the Arctic Watch
Wilderness Lodge at Cunningham Inlet this summer. Or, you could watch a live feed of the
belugas at the Vancouver Aquarium (courtesy of explore.org).
In addition to animals, the Mystic Aquarium is also home to
the Institute for Exploration, which contains a pretty cool exhibit about the
RMS Titanic as explored by the ship E/V Nautilus.
View a photo gallery of the beluga whales and Mystic Aquarium's other animals on CR4's Facebook page.
Resources:
Bioacoustics
Laboratory Sound Assessment of Beluga Whale Holding Pool, Mystic Aquarium,
Mystic, CT
Mystic Aquarium
URI - Beluga Whales
Wikipedia - Mystic
Aquarium & Institute for Exploration
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