146 Sentences With "belugas" | Random Sentence Generator

Baby belugas > adult humans, most days of the week.

They did not say what had happened to the belugas.

Based on facial-recognition technology, it can distinguish bergs from belugas.

The captive group includes 11 killer whales and 87 are belugas.

Many Chinese marine parks feature whale sharks, belugas, dolphins and manta rays.

Airbus currently operates a fleet of five Belugas, to be replaced by the BelugaXLs.

Bowhead whales have similar skin to belugas, and have been spotted molting in Russia's Okhotsk sea.

There's an idea floating around the web that perhaps early seafarers mistook these belugas for mermaids.

This blocks the aquarium's plans to bring five belugas currently on loan in the US back to Vancouver.

Whale conservationists have expressed concerns that the Russian government is snatching belugas from their pods and holding them captive.

The makeshift zoo enclosure is also home to another polar bear, six belugas, five walrus calves and a wolf.

The narwhal participates in all of the regular beluga activities and appears to have gained complete acceptance amongst the belugas.

All of the belugas examined lived in the waters near the St. Lawrence Estuary, a freshwater outflow into the ocean.

But Arctic species like belugas are thought to molt all at once when they visit warmer waters during the summer.

Belugas are a specific colorway of the Yeezy 350 Boost from Adidas, one of the most sought after sneakers today.

In an investigative report, Novaya Gazeta noted four Russian firms that it alleged were selling belugas and killer whales to China.

The skull came from one of the few places on Earth where narwhals and belugas are found together during mating season.

When a reddit user on the r/sneakers subreddit recently declared he'd finally secured the Belugas, a personal grail, the entire channel rejoiced.

RIA-Novosti, citing the Vladivostok environmental prosecutor's office, said 11 orcas (or killer whales) and several dozen belugas were being kept in cages.

But certain cold-water whale species — belugas and narwhals — are believed to shed their skins during the summer, when they relocate to warmer places.

But that doesn't explain why humans—along with killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, belugas, and narwhals—stop reproducing with decades left to live.

Three months after the whale jail started making headlines, Russian authorities have ordered that 11 orcas and 87 belugas be released from the facility, reports Reuters.

All of these pieces are flown to Toulouse in special transport aircraft called Belugas—after the whale, which they resemble, rather than the sturgeon, which they do not.

The team, led by scientist Eline Lorenzen, extracted DNA from the teeth and from tissue samples from eight belugas and eight narwhals taken from West Greenland's Disko Bay.

"Whale jail": After an international backlash, Russia started releasing some of the dozens of orcas and belugas captured by private companies for sale to theme parks in China.

"The smaller the oral opening, the greater the suction—pilot whales, belugas, and porpoises all have similarly short snouts and large, muscular lips," explained Boessenecker in an email to Gizmodo.

Peng, who was watching the beluga show at Ocean Kingdom with his wife and son, said he had not realized belugas were endangered and that he had enjoyed the show.

"We believe this will inspire other facilities to move their belugas and other whales and dolphins to sanctuaries in other parts of the world," Cathy Williamson, WDC captivity campaign manager, said.

To prevent T. gondii from infecting belugas and other sea mammals, like otters and dolphins, the marine researchers from the study ask pet owners not to flush cat poop down their toilets.

Dolphins and belugas are moved around from city to city in trucks and perform in small pools in inflatable pop-up aquariums for several weeks before moving on to the next city.

"A Russian colleague said they don't do such experiments, but she knows the navy has caught belugas for some years and trained them — most likely it's related to that," Rikardsen explained to BBC.

When Stevenson sat on a whale management board in eastern Canada, he observed that Inuit hunters refused to use the word "stock" to refer to belugas — the concept didn't exist in Inuktitut language.

Belugas, which can grow up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) long, spend most of their time off the coasts of Alaska, Canada and Russia, though they often travel great distances in search of food.

" Biuw stressed that any statement on the whale's intended purpose would be "pure speculation," but added: "We know that the Russian military during the Cold War were training belugas to sniff out mines or old torpedoes.

The population of belugas that swim off the coast of Alaska's largest city was listed as endangered in 2008 by the federal government and more than 3,000 square miles have been protected as critical habitat since 2011.

The movement of the first batch of two orcas and six belugas was first broadcast during Mr. Putin's annual call-in show on Thursday, highlighting his role as a modern, televised czar, ready to solve any issue, big or small.

"We're really worried about what this means for Cook Inlet belugas with the double whammy of an oil spill and gas leak in the same season," Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity said in an emailed statement.

MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday started the process of releasing almost 100 valuable orcas and belugas that have been held for months in what became known as the "whale jail" in the country's Far East, following an international outcry and intervention by President Vladimir V. Putin.

Though perhaps I'd like to be, steering a tiny boat over that big, dark expanse of water where the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence rivers meet, with my fate in the hands of the tide and the god I don't believe in, while the endangered blues swim beneath me and the belugas come up to whistle and breathe.

Major flooding In the midwest leaves 85033 dead, 2 missing, NPR reports lN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out stories from Monday and over the weekend... -Dem lawmakers call for investigation into Interior officials over alleged ethics violations -DC moves closer to climate lawsuit against Exxon -Animal welfare advocates call on Putin to release orcas, belugas from 'whale jail' -Dead whale washed ashore with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach -Inslee doubles down on climate in bid to stand out among 2020 Dems View the discussion thread.

The Inuit of the southeast Baffin region have long depended on the hunt of belugas in Cumberland Sound for their survival and culture. Local hunters have extensive traditional ecological knowledge of belugas and hunt them mostly in summer, avoiding taking calves and females with calves. As part of 1980s hunting regulations, quotas were set for Inuit harvests: the annual quota for belugas hunted in Cumberland Sound was 35 whales between 1992 and 2001, and was increased to 41 whales in 2002. Total landings between 1992 and 2001 fluctuated between 15 and 50, averaging 36 to 37 belugas per year.

A previous couple of belugas, Millie and Christy, died almost in unison in 2000. Mauyak was sent to Shedd Aquarium in 1997 for breeding, where she gave birth not only to Qannik but also to Miki, who is now 2 years old. It's unknown yet if there will be new belugas since Beethoven's departure, and none are scheduled to arrive any time in the foreseeable future, and Rocky Shores now houses harbor seals where belugas used to swim.

In winter, belugas move to the eastern side of the Sound near the mouth, following open water.

The research concluded that dolphins and seals were better suited to military use in polar conditions than belugas.

Aboriginal whaling takes place in the Canadian Arctic. Canadians kill about 600 narwhals per year. They kill 100 belugas per year in the Beaufort Sea, 300 in northern Quebec (Nunavik), and an unknown number in Nunavut. The total annual kill in Beaufort and Quebec areas varies between 300 and 400 belugas per year.

Whales caught per year Greenlandic Inuit whalers catch around 175 large whales per year, mostly minke whales, as well as 360 narwhals, 200 belugas, 190 pilot whales and 2,300 porpoises. IWC sets limits for large whales. The government of Greenland sets limits for narwhals and belugas. There are no limits on pilot whales and porpoises.

Belugas are common in its waters. The Vtoraya Rechka in Chukotka should not be confused with a smaller "Vtoraya Rechka" near Vladivostok.

In 2013, the five original Belugas could not cope with production growth and Airbus evaluated the Antonov An-124 and An-225, Boeing C-17 or Dreamlifter, and A400M before choosing to modify one of its own aircraft. The program was launched in November 2014 to build five aircraft to replace the existing five Belugas; the design freeze was announced on 16 September 2015.

Russia has become the largest provider since it had been banned in Canada. Belugas are caught in the Amur River delta and their eastern coast, and then are either transported domestically to aquariums or dolphinariums in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sochi, or exported to other countries, such as Canada. Most captive belugas are caught in the wild, since captive-breeding programs are not very successful.

Belugas occupy mostly the western side of the Cumberland Sound in spring and early autumn. In summer, they are found mainly in Clearwater Fiord and adjacent bays where they are reported to feed on a large diversity of fish and invertebrate species including squid, tube worms, caplin, Greenland cod and Atlantic cod. In late autumn and early winter, belugas move to the centre of the Sound, diving to depths of 300 m or more to feed on deep-water species such as Greenland halibut. Local hunters also report that belugas at the floe-edge in spring prey mainly on Arctic cod and turbot under the ice.

The parasites have been found in dolphins and whales."Parasite spread by cats threatens Quebec's endangered belugas(whales)" CBC news. Oct 15, 2018. Author Sidhartha Banerjee.

There are no recent data on catches in the Arctic Ocean or Bering Sea, where about 60 belugas per year were caught in the early 1980s.

Prior to the construction of the Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station, which dammed the Danube and created the Lake Đerdap in 1967–72, belugas from the Black Sea reached the gorge, travelling upstream for . Specimen, up to , used to be fished in Donji Milanovac. The dam prevents belugas from swimming upstream since, so the largest fish in the lake now is wels catfish, with rare specimen reaching .

One World aquatic presentation replaced Fantasea in 2013. The show can feature belugas, dolphins, penguins, sea lions, a hawk, and dogs. A holiday version is sometimes shown in November and December.

The sockeye salmon is common in its waters. Belugas are common in the Tumanskaya Lagoon. There is a small populated place in the area close to its mouth also called Tumanskaya.

The Cumberland Sound belugas are a distinct population of belugas residing in the Cumberland Sound region of the Labrador Sea off the coast of Nunavut, Canada Individuals of this population reside in the sound year-round, congregating in its extreme north exclusively at Clearwater Fjord during the summer for calving. The Cumberland Sound beluga population is considered fairly isolated and genetically distinct from other beluga populations, with a notable number of haplotypes and microsatellite loci not found elsewhere.

The Arctic whaling program is managed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, which reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The commission includes eleven whaling communities which inhabit the Arctic Alaska coast: the Gambell, Savoonga, Wales, Little Diomede, Kivalina, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Kaktovik. In 2015 Alaska Natives caught 326 beluga whales and 49 bowhead whales. Total numbers 428 belugas and 43 bowheads are average 2011-2015 and include belugas in Canadian portion of Beaufort Sea.

Four were built and were used by Airbus to carry aircraft parts between its factories. In the 1990s Airbus retired them due to rising operational costs and they have been replaced with Airbus Belugas.

Beluga whales and trainers in an aquarium Belugas were the first whales to be kept in captivity. Other species were too rare, too shy, or too big. The first beluga was shown at Barnum's Museum in New York City in 1861. For most of the 20th century, Canada was the predominant source of wild belugas. They were taken from the St. Lawrence River estuary until the late 1960s, after which they were predominantly taken from the Churchill River estuary until capture was banned in 1992.

They group in large schools in ice-free waters. B. saida feeds on plankton and krill. It is in turn the primary food source for narwhals, belugas, ringed seals, and seabirds. They are fished commercially in Russia.

SeaWorld's Wild Arctic is home to various species of cold water animals, including beluga whales and different species of pinnipeds. Belugas: Ferdinand (M), Allua (F), and Klondike (M). Harbor seals: B.B. (F), Gunnar (M) and Denali (F). Ringed seal: Natchek (M).

Between 1960 and 1992, the Navy carried out a program that included the study of marine mammals' abilities with sonar, with the objective of improving the detection of underwater objects. A large number of belugas were used from 1975 on, the first being dolphins. The program also included training them to carry equipment and material to divers working underwater by holding cameras in their mouths to locate lost objects, survey ships and submarines, and underwater monitoring. A similar program was used by the Russian Navy during the Cold War, in which belugas were also trained for antimining operations in the Arctic.

The "Seal Protection Regulations" were established under the Fisheries Act by the Government of Canada in the mid-1960s. The regulations were combined with other Canadian marine mammals regulations in 1993, into the "Marine Mammal Regulations".Sealing Industry , Government of Newfoundland and LabradorImprovements to Seal Hunt Management Measures , Fisheries and Oceans Canada"Sealing", The Canadian Encyclopedia A proposed amendment in 2012 would have required boats to stay at least 50 meters away from belugas in Churchill and Seal River, 400 meters away from threatened or endangered cetaceans (including belugas) in parts of the St. Lawrence, 200 meters from cetaceans in other parts of the St. Lawrence, 100 meters away from cetaceans in other Canadian waters, and 100–300 meters from walruses, though Canada did not expect to add spending for enforcement. The proposal was still pending in 2015, supported by some environmental groups for western orcas, and opposed by tour operators for Churchill and Seal River belugas, because of different situations in the two areas.

Genetic analyses have confirmed that belugas of the Beaufort Sea are clearly distinct from those of other Canadian and Alaskan waters, despite they often share a common wintering habitat.COSEWIC Assessment and Update Status Report on the Beluga Whale. Dsp- psd.pwgsc.gc.ca (31 July 2012).

During the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 1993, the song was sung and a blue screen featured blue belugas swimming. On April 18, 2011, Raffi published a video that included an updated verse encouraging young people to vote in the 2011 Canadian federal election.

Boat of the whalers A whaling station was established around 1930 by Ingvald Svendsen at the western part of Ingebrigtsenbukta, near Kapp Toscana. The whalers hunted exclusively for belugas. It is the only remaining beluga whaling station in Svalbard.Bjørn Fossli Johansen (ed.) (2009).

As of 2006, 30 belugas lived in Canada and 28 in the United States. 42 deaths in captivity had been reported. A single specimen can reportedly fetch up to US$100,000 (UK£64,160). The beluga's popularity is due to its unique color and its facial expressions.

The first walrus was "Sonja", from the Moscow Zoo. It was joined by "Zeus" and "Apollo" two months later and "Pandora", "Buttercup" and "Buddy" in 2002. Marineland added "Smooshi" and "Azul" in 2004. Sonja died in 2017, Zeus died in 2018. In 2003, Marineland opened the "Arctic Cove" beluga whale exhibit. Beluga whales were held in Friendship Cove from May 30, 1999, until the opening of Arctic Cove in late 2003. Belugas returned to Friendship Cove in December 2008 following the importation of eight individuals and has held belugas since. Upon the recent 2014 opening season, several belugas were switched between Arctic Cove and Friendship Cove. In 2004, Marineland opened the "Sky Screamer" triple tower ride. In 2004, Marineland bought the Green Oaks Mobile Home Park across the street from the park with plans to relocate maintenance buildings to the site. In 2009, Marineland evicted 47 families that were tenants at the park. The tenants appealed to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board, lost their case and were ordered off the property by March 2010.

It is also possible to see the belugas from above water via a pavilion on the second floor. Animals on display include blacktip reef sharks, lionfish, moray eels, cownose rays, unicornfish, butterflyfish, and garden eels. Beluga whales are housed in an exhibit with a tunnel that allows underwater viewing.

While the locals tried to keep the animals alive by feeding them with frozen fish and keeping the breathing holes open, it soon became evident that the belugas would eventually perish unless they could be freed.Ice Breaker Suite. Our Fascinating Earth. Russians tell saga of whales rescued by an icebreaker.

The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans. In some whales, however, it is less than half that of humans: 0.9% versus 2.1%. The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of all toothed predatory animals and possesses the largest brain.

It was successfully covered by the popular Italian-American star Dean Martin. In 2006, the German Nu jazz and Lounge music act Club des Belugas (see German Wikipedia) officially released a remix of the Dean Martin version on their album Apricoo Soul, with official authorization on behalf of Capitol Records/EMI and Martin's estate.

The differences between families of odontocetes include size, feeding adaptations and distribution. Monodontids consist of two species: the beluga and the narwhal. They both reside in the frigid arctic and both have large amounts of blubber. Belugas, being white, hunt in large pods near the surface and around pack ice, their coloration acting as camouflage.

Joseph Dufour, dit Bona (October 7, 1744 - December 15, 1829) was a farmer and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born Joseph-Michel Dufour at Petite- Rivière in 1744. He married Charlotte, the daughter of Guillaume Tremblay, in 1771 and went to live on Île aux Coudres. He supported his family by farming and hunting belugas.

Pod groups also hunt, often with other species. Many species of dolphins accompany large tunas on hunting expeditions, following large schools of fish. The killer whale hunts in pods and targets belugas and even larger whales. Humpback whales, among others, form in collaboration bubble carpets to herd krill or plankton into bait balls before lunging at them.

Other terrestrial animals include wolverines, moose, Dall sheep, ermines, and Arctic ground squirrels. Marine mammals include seals, walrus, and several species of cetacean—baleen whales and also narwhals, killer whales, and belugas. An excellent and famous example of a ring species exists and has been described around the Arctic Circle in the form of the Larus gulls.

Whales lessen the chance of predation by gathering in groups. This however means less room around the breathing hole as the ice slowly closes the gap. When out at sea, whales dive out of the reach of surface-hunting orcas. Polar bear attacks on belugas and narwhals are usually successful in winter, but rarely inflict any damage in summer.

On August 27, 2012, Mauyak gave birth to a female calf, Kimalu. On July 3, 2019, Mauyak gave birth to a male calf, Annik, bringing the total number of belugas at Shedd to eight. Immiayuk, Kayavak: Kayavak is one of the most famous residents of the Oceanarium. The whale became an orphan at only five months old after her mother, Immiayuk, died.

Polar bear on Wrangel Island Wrangel Island is a breeding ground for polar bears (having the highest density of dens in the world), seals, walrus, and lemmings. During the summer it is visited by many types of birds. Arctic foxes also make their home on the island. Cetaceans such as bowhead whales, gray whales, and belugas can be seen close to shore.

A belugas' natural habitat is in the Arctic. A Beluga whale at the Atlanta aquarium. Observers noted that the normally white whale's skin appeared bumpy with dark splotches, apparently altered by the polluted waters of the Rhine river. The Rhine was justifiably characterized as a sewer, since waste water from cities and chemical plants was for the most part poured in unfiltered.

They are highly vocal animals, communicating with a wide range of sounds. Like other whales, they also use echolocation to navigate. Belugas can be found in the far north of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the distribution of narwhals is restricted to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Monodontids have a wide-ranging carnivorous diet, feeding on fish, molluscs, and small crustaceans.

Beluga whales in James Bay: a separate entity from eastern Hudson Bay belugas? Hundreds of rivers flow into James Bay. The geography of the region gives many of them similar characteristics. They tend to be wide and shallow near the Bay (in the James Bay Lowlands), whereas they are steeper and narrower farther upstream (as they pour off the Canadian Shield).

A large variety of birds visit the island, including ducks, raptors, and unidentified "small brown birds". A great number of sea mammals can be found nearby, including several kinds of cetaceans (e.g. bowhead whales, orcas, narwhals, and belugas)Wildlife: Astonishing Diversity and seals. Due to the large amount of oceanic life, Marble Island is a traditional summer hunting ground for the Inuit.

These species are preyed on by the killer whale or orca. To subdue and kill whales, orcas continuously ram them with their heads; this can sometimes kill bowhead whales, or severely injure them. Other times they corral the narwhals or belugas before striking. They are typically hunted by groups of 10 or fewer orcas, but they are seldom attacked by an individual.

Aquariums have tried housing other species of whales in captivity. The success of belugas turned attention to maintaining their relative, the narwhal, in captivity. However, in repeated attempts in the 1960s and 1970s, all narwhals kept in captivity died within months. A pair of pygmy right whales were retained in an enclosed area (with nets); they were eventually released in South Africa.

The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park is a National Marine Conservation Area, one of three in the Canadian national park system, located where the Saguenay River meets the Saint Lawrence River. It is the first national park in Québec to protect a purely marine environment. Whales are drawn to the rich food supply stirred up by the mixing of waters here, including a colony of belugas.

An iceberg at Resolute Bay Tourism in Nunavut focuses on outdoor activities and culture of the local Inuit, the indigenous people of Nunavut. Wildlife watching is a popular tourist attraction, as the territory is home to a number of wildlife and bird sanctuaries. It is possible to spot walrus, polar bears, a large variety of birds and belugas throughout Nunavut. Outdoor adventure activities are also popular.

A report prepared for the Eastern Ontario Forest Group. and large wetlands. Other modern evidence of the sea can be seen in the form of whale fossils (belugas, fin whales, and bowhead whales) and marine shellsUniversity of Calgary: Champlain Sea fossils that have been found near the cities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. There are also fossils of oceanic fish such as capelin.

A U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program dolphin named KDog, wearing a locating pinger, performed mine clearance work in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq War. A military marine mammal is a cetacean or pinniped that has been trained for military uses. Examples include bottlenose dolphins, seals, sea lions and belugas. The United States and Soviet militaries have trained and employed oceanic dolphins for various uses.

Belugas swimming in the Abbott Oceanarium at the Shedd Aquarium. The lower level of the Oceanarium allows underwater viewing of the beluga whales and the dolphins. When a new 170,000-square-foot exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago opened on April 27, 1991, it debuted as the largest indoor marine mammal facility in the world. The position as world's oceanarium has since shifted repeatedly in recent years.

Seals and sea lions are trained and utilised by the US Navy and the Russian Navy. In Russia, dolphins and seals have been trained to carry tools for divers and detect torpedoes, mines, and other ammunition to working depths of up to 120 metres. Seals are considered better suited than belugas for military use in polar conditions due to their "high professionalism" and ability to learn, retain and understand oral commands.

The zoo used to house beluga whales. In March 2009 one of the two belugas, Qannik, died of a blood infection. Beethoven, Qannik's tankmate, was sent to SeaWorld, San Antonio, on 5 June 2009. Beethoven's brother, Turner, died three years earlier on 7 September 2006 of chronic liver failure, which resulted in Qannik being brought to the zoo in June 2007, soon after Beethoven had recovered from a severe infection.

She was named Stella, but on November 13, 2015, she died. On June 20, 2015, Martha gave birth to a female calf. On September 16, 2019 2 female beluga whales Pearl, and Atla, were transferred from SeaWorld San Diego to SeaWorld San Antonio. In 2020, SeaWorld San Antonio have 10 belugas : Crissy (F), Martha (F), Naluark (M), Luna (F), Atla (F), Pearl (F), Samson (M), Kenai (M), Innik (M) and Tyonek (M).

New York Times, 12 March 1985. In February 1985, Moskva was called from the Bering Sea in to break a channel through the ice pack and free the trapped herd. On 22 February, the icebreaker finally reached the belugas, but at first they refused to follow the ship to open water. However, when the crew began playing classical music through the ship's loudspeakers, the whales finally followed Moskva to the unfrozen sea.

They were taken from the St. Lawrence River estuary until the late 1960s, after which they were predominantly taken from the Churchill River estuary until capture was banned in 1992. Russia then became the largest provider. Belugas are caught in the Amur Darya delta and their eastern coast and are transported domestically to aquaria or dolphinaria in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi, or exported to countries such as Canada. They have not been domesticated.

Numbers are not available for Nunavut since 2003, when the Arviat area, with about half Nunavut's hunters, killed 200-300 belugas, though the authors say hunters resist giving complete numbers. Bowhead whales are still hunted in northeastern Canada: two to four per year. Harvested meat is sold through shops and supermarkets in northern communities where whale meat is a component of the traditional diet. Hunters in Hudson's Bay rarely eat beluga meat.

They give a little to dogs, and leave the rest for wild animals. Other areas may dry the meat for later consumption by humans. An average of one or two vertebrae and one or two teeth per beluga or narwhal are carved and sold. One estimate of the annual gross value received from Beluga hunts in Hudson Bay in 2013 was for 190 belugas, or per beluga, and for 81 narwhals, or per narwhal.

A Beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium NOC was a beluga whale who made human-like vocalizations. He was captured by Inuit hunters in 1977 and lived in captivity until his death in 1999. In 1984, researchers from the National Marine Mammal Foundation discovered his unusual ability to mimic the rhythm and tone of human speech. Belugas' human-like voices had been described in the past, but NOC's voice was the first to have been recorded.

In domestic chicks and other species of birds exhibiting USWS, one eye remained open contra-lateral (on the opposite side) to the "awake" hemisphere. The closed eye was shown to be opposite the hemisphere engaging in slow-wave sleep. Learning tasks, such as those including predator recognition, demonstrated the open eye could be preferential. This has also been shown to be the favored behavior of belugas, although inconsistencies have arisen directly relating the sleeping hemisphere and open eye.

The coastal Inuit hunted mostly seals and walruses and, depending on the region, narwhals and belugas; of course also the occasional caribou. The seals were used for food for men and dogs. Their oil was used for the kudliks, and their skin and sinews for seal boots (kamik), kayak coverings, ropes (also drag ropes for dog sleds) and dog whips. During the winter, the Inuit lived in igloos, which were erected separately or connected by tunnels.

During part of the construction, the Aquarium's three beluga whales were temporarily relocated to SeaWorld San Antonio. Beluga whales are very sensitive to sound, and while officials had not noted any excessive amounts of stress, it was decided to remove them anyway and eliminate the possibility. Unexpectedly, one of the three belugas, Nico, died at SeaWorld on October 31, 2009. A preliminary necropsy was unable to determine if Nico's death was caused by the move or by something else.

Fauna Reindeer can be seen as well. Rivers on these islands are populated by sturgeon, salmon, trout, and various other fish. The waters around these coastal islands are frozen for about eight months of the year on average. Pinnipeds (such as harbour seals, bearded seals, common seals, ribbon seals (on sea ice) and Steller sea lions), sea otters, and cetaceans such as minke whales, killer whales, and the critically endangered bowhead whales, western gray whales and belugas can be seen off the islands.

The parvorder of Odontocetes – the toothed whales – include sperm whales, beaked whales, killer whales, dolphins and porpoises. Generally the teeth are designed for catching fish, squid or other marine invertebrates, not for chewing them, so prey is swallowed whole. Teeth are shaped like cones (dolphins and sperm whales), spades (porpoises), pegs (belugas), tusks (narwhals) or variable (beaked whale males). Female beaked whales' teeth are hidden in the gums and are not visible, and most male beaked whales have only two short tusks.

As of 2006, 30 belugas were in Canada and 28 in the United States, and 42 deaths in captivity had been reported up to that time. A single specimen can reportedly fetch up to US$100,000 (UK£64,160) on the market. The beluga's popularity is due to its unique colour and its facial expressions. The latter is possible because while most cetacean "smiles" are fixed, the extra movement afforded by the beluga's unfused cervical vertebrae allows a greater range of apparent expression.

Holer was known to ride around the park in a golf cart, personally supervising. Marineland expanded in the 1970s and 1980s, adding marine mammals (orcas, belugas and dolphins ), land animals and large rides, including a large roller coaster and tower drop ride. The park's keeping of marine mammals attracted the attention of animal activists, opposed to the keeping of the animals in captivity, who would protest outside the park's gates. In the 2010s, the park was investigated several times for animal cruelty.

Both Marineland and the Vancouver Aquarium opposed the bill. Marineland believes that it advances an agenda of entrenching animal rights into the legal framework: "the granting of the rights of a person to whales — what activists call a 'non- human person' — and then to other species". The bill would "fundamentally and critically damage Marineland" and "essentially destroy Marineland's future". Marineland believes that it has enough belugas, but it would like to get some more porpoises in the future and a companion for its one orca.

Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, similar in appearance to a dolphin, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). They are, however, more closely related to narwhals and belugas than to the true dolphins. There are seven extant species of porpoise, all among the smallest of the toothed whales. Porpoises are recognised from dolphins by their flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins, and lack of a pronounced beak, although some dolphins (e.g.

An original Beluga takes triple the time to move the A330 parts compared to the parts of an A320, climbing to nine times for the A350 parts. After the A350 production ramp-up, Airbus aims to deliver 880 aircraft in 2019 and raise the A320neo output to 63 per month by 2021, the fleet was expanded with a sixth example in June 2019. The original Belugas could still have 10–20 years’ flying life and will be offered for sale or to serve external customers.

In 2016 they caught 59 bowhead whales, two minke and one humpback whale; The latter two species were not authorized, though no one was prosecuted. Annual catches vary between 300 and 500 belugas and 40 to 70 bowheads. The hunt takes the bowhead whales from a population of about 10,000 in Alaskan waters. Anti-whaling groups claim this hunt is not sustainable, though the IWC Scientific Committee, the same group that provided the above population estimate, projects a population growth of 3.2% per year.

Females, referred to as "cows", carry the responsibility of childcare, as males, referred to as "bulls", play no part in raising calves. In killer whales, false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, narwhals, and belugas, there is an unusually long post-reproductive lifespan (menopause) in females. Older females, though unable to have their own children, play a key role in the rearing of other calves in the pod, and in this sense, given the costs of pregnancy especially at an advanced age, extended menopause is advantageous.

Port Hilford Community Centre, Guysborough NS Port Hilford is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Saint Mary's in Guysborough County. It was the birthplace of Wilf Carter. The place, formerly named Indian Harbour, is located at the head of Indian Harbour Bay and at the south end of Indian Harbour Lake. In 2020 the Whale Sanctuary Project selected Port Hilford as its preferred location for a sanctuary for retired belugas and possibly orcas.

On May 22, it was announced that the 18-year-old walrus "Apollo" had died of heart failure. It was the fourth walrus to die at Marineland within two years, after "Zeus", "Buttercup" and "Sonja" and left Marineland with a single walrus, "Smooshi". In June, Marineland opened its new "Polar Splash" splash park attraction at a cost of million. In June 2019, Marineland signed a ten- year partnership agreement with the Mystic Aquarium's Sea Research Foundation (a subsidiary of Ocean Wise Inc.) in research of belugas.

Whales have been depicted in various cultures worldwide, notably by the Inuit and the coastal peoples of Vietnam and Ghana, who sometimes hold whale funerals. Whales occasionally feature in literature and film, as in the great white whale of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Small whales, such as belugas, are sometimes kept in captivity and trained to perform tricks, but breeding success has been poor and the animals often die within a few months of capture. Whale watching has become a form of tourism around the world.

The main wildlife consists of belugas, walrus, caribou, common eiders and snowy owls all of which can be seen on the island year round. There is also a wide variety of fish that can be caught such as Arctic char, cod, capelin, lump fish, and sculpin.Belcher Island Kayak Tour The historical relationship between the Sanikiluaq community and the eider is the subject of a feature-length Canadian documentary film called People of a Feather. The director, cinematographer and biologist Joel Heath, spent seven years on the project, writing biological articles on the eider.

Isaccea city hall - Economic data Industry is based on extraction of rock from a nearby quarry and woodworking, a tobacco processing factory and a winery. Since 2004, the town is also home for a beluga reproduction research station, financed by the Romanian state. The world's first in vitro fertilisation research station for the beluga, it is fish farm, but also raises beluga to be freed into the Danube, freeing around 3000 belugas."Fabrica de caviar" , România Liberă, February 19, 2007 The town is also a port on the Danube, having two mooring places for ships.

Polar bear attacks on belugas and narwhals are usually successful in winter, but rarely inflict any damage in summer. For most of the smaller species of dolphins, only a few of the larger sharks, such as the bull shark, dusky shark, tiger shark, and great white shark, are a potential risk, especially for calves. Dolphins can tolerate and recover from extreme injuries (including shark bites) although the exact methods used to achieve this are not known. The healing process is rapid and even very deep wounds do not cause dolphins to hemorrhage to death.

About 1,200 pilot whales were taken in the Faroe Islands in 2017., and about 900 narwhals and 800 belugas per year are taken in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia. About 150 minke are taken in Greenland per year, 120 gray whales in Siberia and 50 bowheads in Alaska, as aboriginal whaling, besides the 600 minke taken commercially by Norway, 300 minke and 100 sei taken by Japan and up to 100 fin whales taken by Iceland. Iceland and Norway do not recognize the ban and operate commercial whaling.

The bill would "fundamentally and critically damage Marineland" and "essentially destroy Marineland's future". Marineland believes that it has enough belugas, but it would like to get some more porpoises in the future and a companion for its one orca. In September 2017, Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May filed a complaint to the Parliament of Canada's Lobbying Commissioner about Marineland's breaches of the Canadian Lobbying Act. Marineland had privately lobbied Members of Parliament and Senators without registering with the Lobbying Commissioner in efforts to stop Bill S-203.

Some polynyas, such as the North Water Polynya between Canada and Greenland, occur seasonally at the same time and place each year. Because animals can adapt their life strategies to this regularity, these types of polynyas are of special ecological research significance. In winter, marine mammals such as walruses, narwhals, and belugas that do not migrate south remain there. In spring, the thin or absent ice cover allows light to penetrate the surface layer as soon as the winter night ends, which triggers the early blooming of microalgae at the basis of the marine food chain.

Coast of the Remote Peninsula in Sam Ford Fjord in northeast Baffin Island Nunavut features a number of outdoor adventure activity opportunities as a result of the territory's vast uninhabited area. Wildlife watching is one particularly popular activity - the territory is home to walrus and belugas, as well as eleven bird sanctuaries housing millions of birds. Muskox are also spread throughout Nunavut, although the territory's tourism authority does not promote 'muskox watching' trips specifically. The territory is also home to a population of polar bears, and trips designed to increase tourists' chances of spotting a polar bear are common.

White-tailed deer fawn in Bic National Park The fauna of Bas-Saint-Laurent is similar to the one found in other parts of Quebec and has a relatively poor diversity in species. The glacial episodes of the Pleistocene drove away the animals of the ice- covered area and these came back gradually as the ice sheet melted over the last 18,000 years. The melting of the ice sheet and the flood of the sea of Goldthwait around the current estuary brought molluscs like true mussels, soft-shell clams and scallops. belugas and other whales visit it.

Shedd Aquarium related living Belugas as of September 15, 2020: Mauyak (F), Naya (F), Beethoven (M), Kayavak (F), Bella (F), Aurek (M), Kimalu (F), Annik (M) and an unnamed Calf. Mauyak, Qannik, Miki, Kimalu, Annik: In 2000, Mauyak gave birth to Qannik, who was sent to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma where he died in 2009. On August 16, 2007 Mauyak gave birth yet again to a male calf named Miki, the Inuit word for ″small″ bringing the total number of successful beluga calf births at the aquarium to four since 1999. Miki has been moved to the Mystic Aquarium in 2016.

Officially Canada's first public aquarium, the Vancouver Aquarium has become the largest in Canada and one of the five largest in North America. The Vancouver Aquarium was the first aquarium in the world to capture and display an orca. Other whales and dolphins on display included belugas, narwhals and dolphins. In 1975, the Vancouver Aquarium was the first aquarium accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The aquarium is also accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) and in 1987 was designated Canada's Pacific National Aquarium by the Canadian Federal Government.

Many marine mammals are trained for entertainment such as bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, belugas, sea lions, and others. In a public display situation, the audience's attention is focused on the animal, rather than the trainer; therefore the discriminative stimulus is generally gestural (a hand sign) and sparse in nature. Unobtrusive dog whistles are used as bridges, and positive reinforcers are either primary (food) or tactile (rub downs), and not vocal. However, pinnipeds and mustelids (sea lions, seals, walruses, and otters) can hear in our frequency, so most of the time they will receive vocal reinforcers during shows and performances.

Adult females and males in the population reach mean lengths of respectively and weigh from 800 to 1000 kg (1750 - 2200 Ibs). The peak breeding season appears to occur in May with calves being born in late July or early August after a gestation period of about 14.5 months. Life expectancy is about 16 years, but Belugas in their late 20s have been recorded; the oldest female and male sampled from the catch in Cumberland Sound to date are 26 and 24 years respectively. Research suggests a low reproductive rate, typical of the K-selected species.

Beluga whales have been called "canaries of the sea", and anecdotes of their capacity for mimicry have been reported in the past. For example, the first two scientists to study the calls of wild Belugas wrote that "occasionally the calls would suggest a crowd of children shouting in the distance", and keepers at the Vancouver Aquarium said that a 15-year-old Beluga named "Lagosi" was able to speak his own name. However, NOC's human-like calls were the first of their kind to be recorded. NOC's vocalizations were recorded and studied by a team of biologists from the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) led by Sam Ridgway.

The bill passed first reading in the House of Commons and was referred to the Fisheries Committee for review. Burns appeared at a House Fisheries Committee meeting in March 2019, to propose an amendment regarding future beluga births at Marineland, claiming the new law is unconstitutional. Senator Murray Sinclair, the bill's second sponsor in the Senate and a former judge, told MPs no one is going to be prosecuted when currently pregnant belugas give birth. In the opinion of Sinclair and May, Burns was only intending to delay the bill, so that it could not be passed before the end of the current session of the Parliament of Canada.

Belugas swimming in the Abbott Oceanarium In 1991, Shedd Aquarium opened the Oceanarium (known since 2010 as the Abbott Oceanarium), a large addition to the aquarium that features marine mammals, including Pacific white-sided dolphins, beluga whales, sea otters and California sea lions, as well as penguins, that are located in the Polar Play Zone. The Polar Play Zone is an interactive play area for children as well as the home to the Magellanic and Rockhopper penguins. The lower level of the Oceanarium allows underwater viewing of the beluga whales and the dolphins. It holds in total; the largest single tank is the "Whale Harbour".

The Iron Gates Gorge, today flooded by the artificial lake, was ancient spawning ground of the belugas The Caviar of Kladovo () was a type of caviar produced in eastern Serbia. It was named after the town of Kladovo, central town in the Serbian part of the Danube's Iron Gates Gorge between Serbia and Romania. Made from various fishes' roe, the caviar was granted the protected geographic designation decades ago, and was considered an expensive delicacy, which was even served on the RMS Titanic. With the construction of large dams in 1972 (Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station) and 1984 (Iron Gate II Hydroelectric Power Station), jointly by two states.

In 2019, a beluga was found off the coast of Norway that was believed to have most likely been trained by the Russian Navy. The beluga was wearing a harness that was labeled "Equipment of St. Petersburg", seemed comfortable around humans and attempted to pull ropes from the sides of a Norwegian fishing vessel. Beluga research was conducted by the Murmansk Sea Biology Research Institute in northern Russia on behalf of the Russian Navy. Experiments were conducted to determine whether belugas could be used to “guard entrances to naval bases’” in arctic regions and “assist deepwater divers and if necessary kill any strangers who enter their territory”.

The two parvorders of whales, baleen whales (Mysticeti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti), are thought to have split apart around 34 million years ago. Whales consist of eight extant families: Balaenopteridae (the rorquals), Balaenidae (right whales), Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale), Eschrichtiidae (the grey whale), Monodontidae (belugas and narwhals), Physeteridae (the sperm whale), Kogiidae (the dwarf and pygmy sperm whale), and Ziphiidae (the beaked whales). Whales are fully aquatic, open ocean creatures, and feed, mate, give birth, suckle and raise their young at sea. Whales range in size from the and dwarf sperm whale to the and blue whale, which is the largest known creature that has ever lived.

However the net income, after subtracting costs in time and equipment, was a loss of per person for belugas and per person for narwhals. Hunts receive subsidies, but they continue as a tradition, rather than for the money, and the economic analysis noted that whale watching may be an alternate revenue source. Of the gross income, was for Beluga skin and meat, to replace beef, pork and chickens which would otherwise be bought, was received for carved vertebrae and teeth. was for Narwhal skin and meat, was received for tusks, and carved vertebrae and teeth of males, and was received for carved vertebrae and teeth of female Narwhals.

While sightings of Belugas have been reported in the temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean at latitudes similar to that of the UK, the species is normally social, and it is unusual for an individual of the species to be found alone. Beluga sightings in the vicinity of the Thames are especially rare; the most recent appearance of the species in the area was in 1913. Various species of Cetacean have been found in the Thames over the years, the most famous of which being the River Thames whale, a juvenile northern bottlenose whale which entered the Thames in January 2006, and became stranded after travelling as far as Chelsea before dying from complications associated with its stranding.

Because of the relative diversity of whales and dolphins within easy access of shore, cetacean research takes place at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and the Riverhead Foundation among other centers. Whale watching near Tadoussac Eastern Canada has many whale watching tours in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. Twenty-two species of whales and dolphins frequent the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador, although the most common are the humpback, minke, fin, Beluga and killer whales. Another popular whale-watching area is at Tadoussac, Quebec, where Belugas favor the extreme depth and admixture of cold fresh water from the Saguenay River into the inland end of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

The bill was passed by the Senate in October 2018 and was sent to the House of Commons of Canada. Andrew Burns, Marineland's lawyer appeared at a House Fisheries Committee meeting in March 2019, to propose an amendment regarding future beluga births at Marineland, claiming the new law is unconstitutional. Senator Murray Sinclair, the bill's second sponsor in the Senate and a former judge, told MPs no one is going to be prosecuted when currently pregnant belugas give birth. In the opinion of Sinclair and May, Burns was only intending to delay the bill, so that it could not be passed before the end of the current session of the Parliament of Canada.

Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but they do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as opposed to resisting the force of water pressure. Excluding dolphins and porpoises, odontocetes consist of four families: belugas and narwhals (monodontids), sperm whales (physeterids), dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (kogiids), and beaked whales (ziphiids). There are six species, sometimes referred to as "blackfish", that are dolphins commonly misconceived as whales: the killer whale, the melon-headed whale, the pygmy killer whale, the false killer whale, and the two species of pilot whales, all of which are classified under the family Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins).

Harbinger Down (also known as Inanimate in the United Kingdom) is a 2015 American independent science-fiction monster horror film written and directed by Alec Gillis and produced by Tom Woodruff Jr., the founders of the special effects company StudioADI, and starring Lance Henriksen. The film follows a group of graduate students aboard the crabbing trawler Harbinger who are studying the effects of global warming on a pod of Belugas in the Bering Sea. They recover a crashed Soviet spacecraft encased in a block of ice that is infected with alien Tardigrades, and are attacked by shapeshifting alien monsters. Funded by fan donations through Kickstarter, the film predominantly features practical creature effects created by ADI, including animatronics, prosthetic makeup, stop motion and miniature effects.

Captive whales have occasionally been known to mimic human speech. Scientists have suggested this indicates a strong desire on behalf of the whales to communicate with humans, as whales have a very different vocal mechanism, so imitating human speech likely takes considerable effort. Whales emit two distinct kinds of acoustic signals, which are called whistles and clicks: Clicks are quick broadband burst pulses, used for sonar, although some lower-frequency broadband vocalizations may serve a non-echolocative purpose such as communication; for example, the pulsed calls of belugas. Pulses in a click train are emitted at intervals of ≈35–50 milliseconds, and in general these inter-click intervals are slightly greater than the round-trip time of sound to the target.

Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on earth, averaging and in mature males, in comparison to the average human brain which averages in mature males. The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans. Small whales are known to engage in complex play behaviour, which includes such things as producing stable underwater toroidal air-core vortex rings or "bubble rings". There are two main methods of bubble ring production: rapid puffing of a burst of air into the water and allowing it to rise to the surface, forming a ring, or swimming repeatedly in a circle and then stopping to inject air into the helical vortex currents thus formed.

Scientific research on this population was seldom done before 2009, when researchers studying belugas noticed concentrations of bowheads in the study area. Thus, bowheads in the Sea of Okhotsk were once called "forgotten whales" by researchers. WWF welcomed the creation a nature sanctuary in the region Possibly, vagrants from this population occasionally reach into Asian nations such as off Japan or the Korean Peninsula (although this record might be of a right whale). First documented report of the species in Japanese waters was of a strayed infant () caught in Osaka Bay on 23 June 1969, and the first living sighting was of a juvenile around Shiretoko Peninsula (the southernmost of ice floe range in the Northern Hemisphere) on 21 to 23 June 2015.

Sperm whales have the largest brain mass of any animal on earth, averaging and in mature males, in comparison to the average human brain which averages in mature males. The brain to body mass ratio in some odontocetes, such as belugas and narwhals, is second only to humans. sponge attached along the substrate to simulate the sponging behavior by dolphins Dolphins are known to engage in complex play behaviour, which includes such things as producing stable underwater toroidal air-core vortex rings or "bubble rings". Two main methods of bubble ring production are: rapid puffing of a burst of air into the water and allowing it to rise to the surface, forming a ring, or swimming repeatedly in a circle and then stopping to inject air into the helical vortex currents thus formed.

Parsons, pp. 214–215 Major fish species include polar cod (Boreogadus saida), Arctic cod (Arctogadus glacialis), saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis), least cisco (Coregonus sardinella), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis), inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys) and flatfish.Parsons, pp. 218, 221 Beluga whales Polar bear at the coast of the Beaufort Sea Endicott Island The eastern part of the sea is a major habitat of beluga whales with an estimated population of 39,000. This population is stable and might even be increasing; it is not affected by the offshore oil exploration in the area. Belugas spend summer in the coastal area and Mackenzie River delta, which are free of ice then, and in winter migrate long distances to the polynyas of the deep sea.

Airbus Beluga, the predecessor to the Beluga XL The existing Belugas will not be withdrawn from service when the Beluga XL is introduced; a mixed fleet is to operate for at least five years as the increased production rate of single-aisle aircraft requires the ability to move more parts. The current Beluga fleet flew more than 8000 hours in 2017, doubled from 2014, but the five Beluga fleet is only halfway through its planned service life: another operator could use them for civil or military logistic applications. The Beluga fleet will rise to eight when three XLs will be delivered as the five originals stay in service before being withdrawn from 2021. The original Beluga fleet is reaching its limits, flying five times daily and six days per week: 10,000 hr in 2017 while some parts move on the surface.

2 km to the south is the highest point in the concejo of Llanes, Peña Blanca (1182m). The village sits at the western end of a 2.5 km closed valley drained by the Río Belugas and the Río del Pasador, which join just before sinking into Cueva del BolugoBolugo description and survey (); the river passes nearly directly under the village to resurge at Caldueñin (). During the Spanish Civil War, El Mazuco was the focus of a major battle from September 6, 1937 to September 22, 1937, when 5,000 men of the Republican forces held off over 33,000 Nationalists in the Battle of El Mazuco; see El Mazuco (La defensa imposible). (English translation 2004-2005.) The only commercial establishment in the village today is the popular bar/restaurant El Roxin, known for its traditional Asturian food and (at weekends) its grill.

As well as this, the eyes of a whale are placed on the sides of its head, so their vision consists of two fields, rather than a binocular view like humans have. When belugas surface, their lens and cornea correct the nearsightedness that results from the refraction of light; they contain both rod and cone cells, meaning they can see in both dim and bright light, but they have far more rod cells than they do cone cells. Whales do, however, lack short wavelength sensitive visual pigments in their cone cells indicating a more limited capacity for colour vision than most mammals. Most whales have slightly flattened eyeballs, enlarged pupils (which shrink as they surface to prevent damage), slightly flattened corneas and a tapetum lucidum; these adaptations allow for large amounts of light to pass through the eye and, therefore, a very clear image of the surrounding area.

On average, the summer expedition is 15 days in length. After participants have assembled in Ottawa, they fly north. The itinerary changes from year to year and expeditions have variously embarked from Iceland, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Churchill, Manitoba, or Pangnirtung and Baffin Island. Once aboard the ship, students have the opportunity to observe humpbacks, minke whales, orcas, narwhals, bowhead whales, belugas, walruses, polar bears and dozens of seabird species, and to explore high Arctic coastal regions via Zodiac boat excursions and landings to see glaciers, icebergs, fjords, and the world’s northernmost communities and research stations. Expeditions beginning in Iceland have in the past included land-based activities such as a day in Reykjavík; visits to the Blue Lagoon, active geysers, Iceland’s icecap, ancient fishing villages, the volcanic Vestmannaeyjar, or Westman Islands; a tour of a geothermal power plant; a hike in Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site or along the shores of Skagafjörður, aka the Skaga Fjord, Saudarkrokur; a trip to Hvammstangi, home of the Icelandic Seal Centre, or the Husavik Whale Museum, located on the eastern shore of the Skjalfandi Bay.