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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.
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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