Information provided by Rambly
Like children blowing little bubbles through rings, beluga whales are astounding onlookers by learning to blow bubbles of air underwater. Following a clap from their instructor they exhale the air, about 30cm (12in) wide, towards a glass wall. They also sometimes direct the bubble right at members of the audience standing by the glass. The three belugas form a group as the diver blows air out of his regulator for them to draw into their lungs. The act also includes juggling balls, twisting around and swimming through hoops at the Aquas aquarium in Hamada, 700km (434 miles) south-west of Tokyo. Beluga whales live only in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean and are regarded as threatened.
Their natural predators are orcas and polar bears, but North American native tribes are also allowed to kill a limited number. There are 400 other aquatic species that live in the aquarium, the biggest in central Japan.
The name beluga means white in Russian. (Psst, Mary Ann. I wonder why they didn't call the Cossacks "white" horse a Beluga horse. It seems appropriate.
Posts
2 comments:
especially amazing since they generally inhale and exhale through their blowholes? i was just wondering about this...
Rambly,
I imagine it would be trained along the lines of getting an Orca to rinse it's mouth and spit water, only controlled releases, underwater to form the rings. I learned a lot about Orcas at Marine land and GameFarm. They are so incredible it can't be described.
Wade
Post a Comment