Tag: beluga

tilikkum:

Wilma, a Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) named by the locals of Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia, has a special and unusual relationship with humans. Most Be luga whales remain elusive and rarely allow humans to get close, but Wilma seem s to welcome contact. After losing her mother in 1994 and therefore lacking the guidance to travel home to Canada’s St. Lawrence River, Wilma has adopted Chedabucto Bay a s her home. Most often, she is found in close proximity to a large red buoy she seems to have adopted as her surrogate mother. Local Jim Johnson has become very close to Wilma, and can call her to him from underwater—even when she cannot be seen from the surface. Because of Wilma’s desire for contact with humans, there is growing concern f or her safety and for her future. It is not known whether she will v enture out to seek a mate, or if she will just die as she lived in Chedabucto B ay—alone. This possibility has interested conservation groups who are now con sidering Chedabucto Bay as a site to re-introduce belugas from aquariums back into the w ild. Beluga whales live in cold northern waters. They eat fish, squid and crab s and can grow as long as 14-feet and weigh as much as 2,500 pounds by Brian J Skerry