The document summarizes information about beluga whales, including their physical description, habitat, and causes of endangerment. Beluga whales have white skin and live in Arctic waters, traveling between open ocean in winter and shallow bays and estuaries in summer. Their populations have declined dramatically due to hunting and habitat alterations from activities like damming, dredging, and pollution. Conservation efforts aim to protect beluga whales by regulating hunting, altering shipping routes, reducing pollution, and tracking their populations to aid in recovery.

1. Beluga Whales
Butterflies Make Better Canaries
Brooklyn N
March 16, 2015
This power point explains the life, habitat,
and endangerment of beluga whales in
Canada.

2. Description of Beluga Whales
 In Russian beluga means “the white one,”
which in this case explains its pure white
skin, and prominent and bulging forehead,
the beluga whale is extremely easy to spot.
However, only adult belugas are white;
calves are born brown or dark grey and
gradually pale to become totally white
between six and eight years of age. Beluga
whales have stout bodies, well-defined
necks and a disproportionately small head.
They have thick skins, short but broad
paddle-shaped flippers, and sharp teeth.
The beluga doesn’t have a dorsal fin, unlike
other whales. The average beluga whale is
3 to 5 metres in length, and weight
between 500 and 1,500 kilograms. Unlike
female whales, the male has a marked
upward curve at the top of their flippers.

3. Habitat of Beluga Whales
 The need for ice-free water and sufficient
quantities of food to eat, the beluga
whale lives in cold arctic waters, traveling
from habitat to habitat. In winter, the
whale is found in areas of open water; in
summer its found in shallow bays and
estuaries. Calm, shallow waters along reef
edges is where female belugas with young
prefer. These waters have warm surface
temperatures and sand, gravel or mud
floors that support molluscs, and bottom
fish eaten by belugas. Areas where the
water depth varies and where surface
temperatures are cold, are where adults
and weaned young belugas favour.

4. Causes of Endangerment
 The main cause of the dramatic
declines in beluga populations is
hunting. However, other factors
could include alterations to habitats
– such as damming of rivers – and
possibly noise pollution caused by
ships and pleasure craft. The boast
could very possibly interfere with
the belugas’ echo-location method
of hunting. Dredging, shipping,
industrial activity and environmental
pollution are possible reasons why
the quality of water the beluga lives
in has been affected and degraded.
These reasons could also lead to the
decline in food supply.

5. Solutions
 You could very easily send a message
to government leaders, expressing
your concerns and possible actions to
be taken for the protecting of beluga
whales. Shipping company's could
alter their routes to protect the
habitat of the beluga whales. Humans
can very easily cut down on
environmental pollution that they
cause my littering. Recycle and reuse
items that you can in order to reduce
the size of our landfills. Hazardous
materials found in the trash sites can
leach into the soil and groundwater
and contaminate the rivers, streams
and oceans. Fines and punishments
can be given to the hunters of
beluga’s, and laws could be created to
make the hunting of them illegal.

6. The future for Beluga Whales
 Based on aerial surveys in June,
2006, the agency estimated that only
about 302 belugas remained in the
upper Inlet last year. The results
suggest the population has slipped
5.6 percent per year since 1994 and
a 4.1 percent per year since hunting
became regulated in 1999. As a
result, the whales face a 26 percent
chance of becoming extinct within
100 years, according to a status
review released last winter. But with
the help from scientists and
researchers who are tracking the
beluga whales, they are helping with
the protection and recovering of
beluga whales.

7. The future for Beluga Whales
 Based on aerial surveys in June,
2006, the agency estimated that only
about 302 belugas remained in the
upper Inlet last year. The results
suggest the population has slipped
5.6 percent per year since 1994 and
a 4.1 percent per year since hunting
became regulated in 1999. As a
result, the whales face a 26 percent
chance of becoming extinct within
100 years, according to a status
review released last winter. But with
the help from scientists and
researchers who are tracking the
beluga whales, they are helping with
the protection and recovering of
beluga whales.