Woah.... What are those? They looks so cute, with their fluffy white heads.
Hmmmmm....Hmmm...
MOM!!
Benny, why are you screaming?
Oh Benny, I told you no more screens for the rest of the day, you have school tomorrow. Get ready for bed, it almost night.
Mom, look at the cute animal on the TV.
Ok, mom!
Zzzzzzz..........
Huh....What is that?
Benny.....Benny....Benny.............
I'm a beluga whale. Want to know more about us? Just enter through this magic portal.
Of course!
Hey Benny!
That's so cool! What are you?
Woah!!! You can talk?!?!?
Yes, I want to learn more!!! But you want me to enter through the TV? OK then...
What's your name?
Brrr..... It so cold, where are we?
Belugas are found in the arctic waters of United States, Canada, Greenland, and Russia.
We love swiming among icebergs and ice floes in the icy waters.LOVE THE COLD!
Right now we are in the Amur River of Russia. We belugas are mostly found in arctic and subarctic waters.We love the cold that we live here most of our life.
My name is Snow.
The different noises they make give the beluga it's other name, "the canary of the sea."
Of course! What do you want to know?
Yes these things on our head are called 'melons.' This is one of the things we are known for. We are very friendly animals that live, hunt, and migrate together.Because of this we use our melons to make sounds, and chirps to talk to each other. One of our many life strategies.
Oh that's so cool. I want to know more about your species.
Hmm.. Oh I want to know about the fluffy thing on your head.
By Rovic ContrerasDedicated to Ms. Sanelli
What else do you want to know?
You said your melons are one of your life strategies, what are the others?
Because we are non-aggressive animals, predators like the killer whales and polar bears like to hunt us and eat us.
One Tuesday afternoon, Benny was watching the TV.It was playing a nature show about beluga's, an animal that he has never seen and does not know anything about.
PREDATORS? How can something so cute be hunted?
Benny's mom was washing the dishes as they had just finished dinner, when she heard Benny scream "Mom!!"
Oh this is my daughter, Snowy. She is just three weeks old.
Oh... Who is that cute baby?
Is she your only baby?
Benny's mom came running to see why he screamed so loud.She asked him, why he screamed?He told her to look at the TV but she made him get ready for bed as there was school the next day.
Yes of course. Now any more questions?
Could I touch her?
Oh yes, why is your population growth rate decreasing?
Oh, I knew this question was going to come anytime now.I wanted people to know and learn more about our species, because I saw that you did not know what we are, I called you.
Benny ran up the stairs and got ready for bed.He slept soundly not knowing the adventures he was going to embark on later that night.
Why did you call me here?
Is this place real?
Alright, this is my final question...
Hours passed by but nothing happened. Benny was deep asleep.Until 12 hit on the clock. As this happened, a voice called to Benny.He woke up, feeling scared but because he was curious, he followed the voice.
Benny followed the voice and it led him to their living room. He found out that the voice was from the animal he was watching earlier.He was surprised to hear it talk so he asked what it is. It answered and invited him to their world where he can learn more about these 'majestic creatures.'
Huh....Mom?
Benny.....Benny....Benny.............
Benny entered the magic TV portal and teleported into the World of Belugas.He met Snow, the voice in the TV. He asked her why it was so cold and she explained why belugas live in cold places.
THE END!
Benny wanted to know more about belugas so he asked Snow about the things on top of their head.Their melons are one of their life strategies to be able to communicate with one another.
defense mechanisms - mental process for avoiding or minimizing anxiety and/or conflictdistribution pattern - spatial relationship between members of a population within a habitatdorsal fin - fin at the back of an animalentanglement - being entangledentrapment - being trappedK-species - K-selected species are species who produce offspring that each have a higher probability of survival to maturity but they have low reproductive ratemigrate - to move from one region to anotherpopulation growth rate - change in a population over timepredator - an animal that hunts and kills preyprey - an animal that is hunted or killedreproductive rate - measures the conditions under which generations are replacedstrandings - being stranded or stuck
Benny then asked Snow, what are other life strategies of beluga whales?
We also have no dorsal fin, to adapt to cold water.
Beluga's also form a tight seal around fish which allows them to swallow food without swallowing water. They also can use their skin's to camouflage from preys.
We have multiple. For example we have a very flexible neck to allow for easy moving in shallow water and escape from predators.
Surprised that predators hunt and attack these fluffy, cute belugas, Benny was shocked. But he was then thankful to know that belugas have defence mechanisms from these attacks.
Belugas have defence mechanism's from predators like the orca/killer whales and polar bears. Because belugas travel in pods, there distribution pattern is clumped.
Snow's three weeks old daughter, Snowy, swam to her and Benny was curious if Snowy is Snow's only baby.Snow then explained beluga whales' reproductive rate and how slow their population increase.
But do not worry because we have defence mechanisms. We can camouflage, we live in Arctic waters which decreases predators and we travel in pods/groups of around 10-25, because we believe we are stronger together.
Mama....
Belugas are already low in numbers around the world and because of their low reproducitve rate, they fail to increase their population growth rate. Because of their low reproductive rate, they are considered K-species.
Yes, because we female belugas typically give birth to one baby every three years.This is also the one of main reason that our population growth rate is decreasing
As Benny was touching Snowy, he asked Snow why their population is decreasing and Snow answered him with threats to their species.
All the threats that Snow mentioned are major problems that causes difficulty to these animals.
Our population growth is decreasing because of threats to our species. Threats such as hunting, entanglement, strandings, entrapment in sea ice, and noise pollution.
Benny asked Snow why she called him there. Snow called him there because she wanted to teach people like Benny, who did not know about belugas before, that they are majestic and incredible creatures.
......
What is it?
Before Snow was able to answer Benny's final question, someone was calling Benny's name again.
A voice called on Benny again, so he woke up wondering who it was.It was just his mom, asking him to wake up. He then realizes that his adventure with Snow in the World of Belugas was all just a dream.But that dream taught him a lot about belugas that he never knew before.
So that was all just a dream. Huh...
Yes, breakfast is ready. Come on down!
Benny went to school that day and told his friends the adventure he had with Snow.