Beluga

Beluga whales keep switching mates and it may be saving their species

Beluga whales keep switching mates and it may be saving their species Beluga whales may be beating the odds against inbreeding by constantly changing partners over their decades-long lives. Date: - June 4, 2026 - Source: - Frontiers - Summary: - Hidden beneath Arctic waters, beluga whales have long kept their family lives a mystery. By analyzing DNA from more than 600 belugas in Alaska’s Bristol Bay over 13 years, researchers uncovered a surprisingly flexible mating system: both males and...

Canada endorses embattled marine park’s plan to relocate 30 beluga whales

Beluga whales, which Marineland threatened to euthanize in 2025, will be moved to sanctuaries in Spain or across USCanada and an embattled marine park have reached a tentative deal on the future of 30 beluga whales, ending a saga that has captivated the public and angered animal rights groups. The federal fisheries ministry announced this week that all of Marineland’s belugas would be shipped to either Spain or one of four locations in the US, ending whale captivity in Canada.

Canada endorses embattled marine park’s plan to relocate 30 beluga whales

Beluga whales, which Marineland threatened to euthanize in 2025, will be moved to sanctuaries in Spain or across USCanada and an embattled marine park have reached a tentative deal on the future of 30 beluga whales, ending a saga that has captivated the public and angered animal rights groups. The federal fisheries ministry announced this week that all of Marineland’s belugas would be shipped to either Spain or one of four locations in the US, ending whale captivity in Canada.

Whatever the mirror test tells us, beluga whales pass it

In hours of underwater video footage from a New York aquarium, a beluga whale named Natasha stretches her neck, pirouettes, nods, and shakes her head in front of a two-way mirror. Her daughter Maris does much the same. According to a new study published in PLOS One, both animals show the behavioral hallmarks of mirror self-recognition—a cognitive ability long considered a marker of self-awareness, and one that had never before been documented in beluga whales.

Whatever the mirror test tells us, beluga whales pass it

Canadian government endorses a plan to move whales from shuttered Marineland park to US and Spain

Canadian government endorses a plan to move whales from shuttered Marineland park to US and Spain Andrew Zinin Lead Editor Canada's government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain—a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which announced in early...

Crowd sets Ebola hospital tents on fire in DRC

An angry crowd has set fire to part of a hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after the death of a suspected Ebola victim. The BBC understands relatives stormed the facility and tried to remove the body after health workers refused to release it. Medical staff at the Rwampara Hospital are under military protection.