[Animals] GALLERY: Thousands of belugas return to their natural refuge in Hudson Bay to give birth

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Each year, Hudson Bay receives more than 55,000 belugas. Most are pregnant, seeking the warm waters to have their babies.
More than a third of the beluga whales in the world go to Hudson Bay, in Canada, to spend the warmer months of the year. In the Canadian Arctic, the waters are much warmer, and that is why they choose this place to have their young.

They spend the summer months there, teaching them simple sounds that evolve into an exclusive language of each family. Every day, babies should eat enough fat to gain a pound. By August, they will have to make their return journey further north, where the ice does not promise to be accommodating to the newborns.

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Belugas weave their culture with song in Hudson Bay

Many of the female belugas arrive pregnant in Hudson Bay. Within a few days of being there, they give birth to their babies, who are born knowing how to swim and communicate with their mothers. Although they have an innate ability to detect the sounds they make, throughout the summer months they have to learn the complex language of their families.

ACCORDING TO AFP COVERAGE, BELUGAS ARE KNOWN COLLOQUIALLY AS 'CANARIES OF THE SEA' "DUE TO THE AROUND 50 VOCALIZATIONS (WHISTLES, CLICKS, RINGS) THAT THEY EMIT, THEY ARE "SOCIAL" ANIMALS WITH A "VERY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM COMPLEX", SAYS VALERIA VERGARA, WHO HAS BEEN STUDYING THEM FOR YEARS."

Grandparents, fathers, mothers, older siblings and cousins share a group-specific sound system, which the newborns have to master before heading north again. Skerry assures that this is one more sign that cetaceans are animals that not only manage to establish deep emotional and social ties, but also generate culture among themselves.

The sounds are usually accompanied by facial gestures. Among the whales, belugas are distinguished by being the most expressive animals: they smile, frown, laugh and cry, just like we humans do. Based on Skerry's coverage, this could be the most social cetacean species that exists in the wild. Proof of this is the sophisticated language they develop between them.

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Bonding with their young

While they are in Hudson Bay, however, this danger is not yet real. In those months of rest, the mothers teach them to get food, to protect themselves from being stranded on the shore, and even to 'sing'. By the time they are three years old, the young pups can identify nearly a thousand different sounds, all originating from their families and close groups.

This knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. Just as they learn from their relatives to 'talk' from an early age, belugas must memorize the journey to and from Hudson Bay. Year after year they meet again with their cousins and other families who come there to rest. One day, they will have to teach their own offspring the same skills they learned in the Canadian Arctic early in life.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/por-que-van-las-belugas-a-hudson-bay-en-canada/