Photo: Beluga Whale

A beluga whale rests peacefully on the surface of the water with one eye peeled to see what is going on around him.

As this Beluga Whale decides it is time for a quiet moment he keeps his small gray shaded eye open for anything that may appear out of the ordinary in the cold Arctic waters. This Beluga has some creamy yellow patches on his back with the rest of his skin being a milky white coloring which shows that it is an adult beluga. Newborn belugas are a dark gray and eventually turn white as they begin to mature.

This small toothed whale has a stout body with a small rounded head and a single blowhole on top. Like most other cetaceans, it does not have a dorsal fin which makes swimming under the ice packs in the Arctic waters much easier. They need to be able to swim right below the ice in search of breathing holes.

They have small rounded pectoral fins which help the Beluga Whale to steer with the aid of the tail flukes which are also used for stopping. To communicate, the beluga can make extremely loud noises such as squeals or whistles from their blowholes and have been known to be called canaries. ... continue below the picture...

This picture is part of the photo album "Animal Pictures" - there are more beautiful images waiting for you.

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Taking a Beluga Whale watching trip in the Arctic waters of either Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Norway or the Soviet Union where belugas reside, do not be surprised if it appears that they are smiling at you. Due to the fact that their backbones are not fused together, this enables a beluga to make a variety of facial expressions.