A Love Affair with a Beluga

I am in love with a Beluga Whale. She is the sweetest thing! I have tried to explain the beginning of our friendship, but it is better told with pictures....

At the Georgia Aquarium, there is a tank with three Belugas. When we first saw the tank we thought they were cute and moved onto the next exhibit. But eventually we happened upon the other side of the Beluga tank. It was in a ballroom where no one else seemed to be entering. This side of the tank offered a much closer view without the crowds, so we decided to take a look. In a matter of minutes the whales were swimming up to me and rubbing up against the glass. It stole my heart. I could literally scratch at the glass and say, "Come here, girl." And they would come! I stayed at this spot for as long as I could...I wish I could have brought one home with me!







It was like a cat rubbing up against your leg, only she was rubbing up against the glass to let me "pet"her.

She smiled for the camera.

The beluga whale is a small, toothed whale that is white as an adult. The beluga's body is stout and has a small, blunt head with a small beak, tiny eyes, thick layers of blubber, and a rounded melon. They have one blowhole. Beluga means "white one" in Russian. Its genus, Delphinapterus, means "whale without fins", and the species, leucas, means white. The beluga is also called the white whale, the white porpoise, the sea canary (because of its songs), and the squid hound (due to its diet). Unlike most other cetaceans, the beluga's seven neck vertebrae are not fused, giving it a flexible, well-defined neck.