title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz was born on 23 September 1951<ref name="hindustantimes/29july2017"></ref> into a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri family in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was an upper-middle-class businessman and industrialist whose family had emigrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business, and eventually settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district, Punjab, at the beginning of the twentieth century. His mother's family came from Pulwama. Following the partition of India and Pakistan's independence in 1947, his parents migrated from Amritsar to Lahore. He attended St. Anthony High School, Lahore.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Government College University, Lahore. After graduation, he joined his family-owned Ittefaq Group. He was elected president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 1985.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He has two brothers, Abbas Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz is a three-time elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. His sister-in-law, Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, was the First Lady of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz married Nusrat Shehbaz<ref name="dawn/3jan2014"></ref> in 1973. They had four children: Salman, Hamza and twin sisters, Javeria and Rabia.<ref name="pakistantoday/30july2017"></ref> In 2003, Shehbaz married his second wife Tehmina Durrani. He lives at his ancestral home in Lahore, Raiwind Palace.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz is a businessman by profession<ref name="dawn/13jan2012"></ref> and jointly owns Ittefaq Group, a multimillion-dollar steel conglomerate. In 2013, it was noted that Shehbaz is wealthier than his elder brother Nawaz with ().


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz began his political career after getting elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-122 (Lahore-VII) as a candidate of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (JI) in 1988 general election.<ref name="dawn/25april2013"></ref><ref name="ecp/pa88-97"></ref><ref name="thenews/1june2013"></ref> He secured 22,372 votes and defeated a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). However his term prematurely ended in 1990 when the assemblies were dissolved.<ref name="pap/profile"></ref><ref name="dawn/2aug2008"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-124 (Lahore-IX) as a candidate of IJI in 1990 general election. He received 26,408 votes and defeated a candidate of Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA). In the same election, he was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of IJI. He secured 54,506 votes and defeated Jehangir Bader.<ref name="ecp/na-88-97"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He vacated the Provincial Punjab Assembly seat to retain his National Assembly seat. His term prematurely ended in 1993 when the assemblies were dissolved.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-125 (Lahore-X) as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) in 1993 general election. He received 28,068 votes and defeated a candidate of PPP. In the same election, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He secured 55,867 votes and defeated Yousuf Salahuddin. He vacated the National Assembly seat and retained his Provincial Punjab Assembly seat. Shortly after the election, he was elected Leader of Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab. During his tenure as leader of the opposition, he remained in the United Kingdom for some years due for medical treatment. In his absence, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was made acting leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly.<ref name="dawn/29nov2002"></ref> His term as Member of the Punjab Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition prematurely ended in November 1996 when the assemblies were dissolved.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-125 (Lahore-X) as a candidate of PML-N in 1997 general election. He received 25,013 votes and defeated a candidate of PPP. In the same election, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-96 (Lahore-V) as a candidate of PML-N. He secured 47,614 votes and defeated Hanif Ramay. He was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time and was sworn in as 13th Chief Minister of Punjab on 20 February 1997.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: During his tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, he was praised for his good governance in the province because of his focus on health, education, agriculture and industrial sectors. He undertook several development projects in Lahore and launched a crackdown on criminals across the province to maintain law and order in the province.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He held his office until 12 October 1999 when was removed from the post of Chief Minister in the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état. Following the coup he was imprisoned. In December 2000, he along with his immediate family members was exiled forcibly to Saudi Arabia following the request of the Saudi royal family.<ref name="thenews/25nov2007"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: While in exile in Saudi Arabia, Shehbaz was elected as the President of PML-N in August 2002 and moved to the United Kingdom in mid-2003 for medical treatment.<ref name="thenews/5nov2006"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In 1999, a complainant Saeeduddin lodged FIR and accused Shehbaz of allowing the Sabzazar police, as the Chief Minister of the Punjab, to kill his son along with other men in a fake encounter. In the encounter, his two sons and three other people were killed by the police.<ref name="dawn/2march2008"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In 2003, an anti-terrorism court summoned Shehbaz and five others accused in alleged extrajudicial killings in 1998. He was in the exile at that time and failed to show-up to the court. Later, the court issued an arrest warrant for Shehbaz.<ref name="bbc/7sept2007"></ref> In 2004, Shehbaz attempted to return to Pakistan to appear before the court, but was forcibly deported back to Saudi Arabia.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In August 2007, the Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict which allowed Sharif brothers to return to Pakistan. In September 2007, an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan ordered police to arrest Shehbaz based on a 2003 arrest warrant. He later got bail from anti-terrorism court. Shehbaz denied ordering the alleged killings and said the charges against him were politically motivated. He further said that in 2004 he had landed at the Lahore Airport wanting to appear before the court, but was sent back to Saudi Arabia by the government in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court. In 2008, he was acquitted by the Anti-Terrorism Court in the "Sabzazar case".


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was re-elected as the President of PML-N for a second term in August 2006 and returned to Pakistan along with Nawaz Sharif in November 2007.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz was not allowed to take part in the 2008 general election due to the charges of murder. In 2008, Sharif was acquitted in the 1998 extrajudicial killings case.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab unopposed from Constituency PP-48 (Bhakkar-II) as a candidate of PML-N in by-polls held in June 2008. He was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab unopposed after securing 265 votes.<ref name="peoplesdaily/9june2008"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In June 2008 he contested for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Constituency PP-10 (Rawalpindi-X), while holding the Assembly seat from Constituency PP-48 (Bhakkar-II). He was elected unopposed but later he resigned from this seat after controversy developed over his eligibility to hold office of Chief Ministership.<ref name="nation/24june2008"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: His second term as Chief Minister lasted until 25 February 2009, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared him ineligible to hold public office which took away his seat in the Punjab Assembly, and thereby removed him from office as Chief Minister. On 1 April 2009, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court overturned an earlier decision of the apex court, in which Shehbaz was disqualified from holding public office. As a result, Shehbaz returned to office as Chief Minister.<ref name="thenews/1april2009"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from three Constituencies PP-159 (Lahore-XXIII), PP-161 (Lahore-XXV) and PP-247 (Rajanpur-I) – as a candidate of PML-N in 2013 general election. In the same election, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Constituency NA-129 (Lahore-XII) as candidate of PML-N.<ref name="ecp/2013"></ref> Sharif opted to retain his Provincial Assembly seat PP-159 (Lahore-XXIII) and was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab for the third time unopposed after securing 300 votes in the 371-members Provincial Assembly.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In 2016, Shehbaz was elected unopposed as the president of Punjab chapter of PML-N in intra-party elections.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On 29 July 2017, Shehbaz was named leader of the PML-N, and hence Prime Minister-designate of Pakistan, following the disqualification of outgoing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after the Panama Papers case decision. However, Shehbaz could not be sworn in immediately because he was not a member of the National Assembly. As a result, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was made interim Prime Minister of Pakistan for 45 days, presumably giving Shehbaz enough time to enter the legislature via a by-election. After Abbasi's election as Prime Minister of Pakistan, however, it was reported that he was likely to continue as Prime Minister for the next ten months until the 2018 general election<ref name="indianexpress/3aug2017"></ref> due to the reluctance of Shehbaz Sharif to leave the post of Chief Minister of Punjab. Though he was not made the leader of PML-N over differences.<ref name="thenews/21dec2017"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Reportedly, Shehbaz was offered to become Prime Minister of Pakistan by the establishment several times previously but never accepted.<ref name="indianexpress/30july2017"></ref>


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: In December 2017, during a party meeting between the senior members of PML-N, Nawaz named Shehbaz as candidate of the party for the office of Prime Minister in the upcoming June 2018 general election, saying that "Shahbaz had never disappointed him or the party, and had risen to prominence because of his hard work and performance."


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On 27 February 2018, Shehbaz was appointed as the interim President of the PML-N. On 13 March, he was elected as the President of the PML-N unopposed.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-132 (Lahore-X) in 2018 Pakistani general election. In the same election, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency PP-164 (Lahore-XXI) and PP-165 (Lahore-XXII).<ref name="dawn/17aug2018"></ref> Following his successful election, he abandoned his Punjab seats in favour of the National assembly seat. On 16 August, he was nominated by PML-N for the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan. On 17 August 2018, he received 96 votes and lost the office to Imran Khan. The same day, he was nominated for the office of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly by one 111 Members of the National Assembly. On 20 August 2018, he was notified as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. In his capacity as Leader of Opposition, he also served as Chairman Public Accounts Committee from 22 December 2018 till 28 November 2019. He resigned from the post and Rana Tanveer Hussain succeeded him.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On 28 September 2020, Shehbaz was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau on charges of laundering over million ( million) in a systematic scheme involving close associates and family members. The Bureau had previously frozen 23 different properties belonging to Sharif, his son, and other family members, claiming that these assets were acquired beyond known sources of income. The NAB alleges that the Shehbaz Sharif family used fake transactions to receive foreign funds, with the transactions being made through a company owned by Sharif's son-in-law, Haroon Yousaf.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Shehbaz remained incarcerated pending trial. He was temporarily released on parole to attend his mother's funeral prayers in November 2020. On 14 April 2021, he was released on bail in a money laundering reference by Lahore High court.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On 10 April 2022, Sharif was nominated as candidate for Prime Minister by opposition parties following a vote of no confidence in incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan after the 2022 Pakistani constitutional crisis.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: He was elected Prime Minister on 11 April 2022. He took the oath of office on the same day, administered by the Chairman of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, acting for President Arif Alvi, who was on medical leave after complaining of “discomfort”.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On July 14, 2019, The Daily Mail published a news with the headline: "Did the family of Pakistani politician who has become the poster boy for British overseas aid STEAL funds meant for earthquake victims? According to the report, Shehbaz Sharif stole aid funds from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) following the 2005 earthquake. It was written by Daily Mail journalist David Rose. Investigations have shown that the UK donated more than £500 to the earthquake victims in Pakistan through the DFID, a UK government organisation.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: David Rose claims that former chief minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif used the aid funds to send one million pounds through money laundering to his frontman Aftab Mehmood, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, who then gave the money to Shahbaz Sharif's family. Shehbaz Sharif and his family allegedly stole British citizens' tax relief funds, according to news reports. The Daily Mail also made reference to a number of Shehbaz Sharif's British government officials. Salman Shahbaz the son of Shehbaz Sharif later refuted this information.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: A DFID representative referred to the reports as "baseless" and "fabricated" on the organization's website, and in January 2020, Shahbaz Sharif filed a claim for damages against the Daily Mail and its reporter David Rose in the Royal Court of Justice in London.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: According to court documents, Daily Mail took almost three years to submit a defence of Rose's story. On April 20, 2020, Justice Nicklin issued the initial order for the listing hearing window running from April 21, 2020, to July 31, 2020. On May 7, 2020, Justice Nicklin issued a second ruling that extended the due dates. On October 20, 2020, the justice issued the first order, merging the claims of Shehbaz and his son-in-law Yousaf. On January 28, 2021, Justice Nicklin issued another order pertaining to the preliminary issue trial.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: The verdict and order were delivered on February 5, 2021. The judge ruled at the meaning hearing at the London High Court in favour of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz and his son-in-law. Justice Nicklin determined that the Mail on Sunday's article carried the highest level of defamatory meaning for both Shehbaz and Yousaf.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: On February 18, 2021, he issued the directive with relation to certain deadlines. On March 15, 2022, The Daily Mail filed the defence. On March 17, 2022, Master Thornett issued the directive to file the defense. On June 23 and September 20, 2022, he then issued the orders to extend the deadline for filing the defence. Following negotiations to resolve the dispute after March 2022 between Daily Mail and PM Shehbaz, it was made apparent to the premier's legal counsel that the publication will issue an apology and take down the item under his conditions. On September 26, 2022, Justice Nicklin issued an order and scheduled a joint case management meeting for November 9.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Three days prior to this hearing, Shahbaz pulled his request for a delay in favor of a full trial in a shrewd political move. According to the regulations, the court was not informed that the lawyers for Daily Mail had been secretly negotiating with Shahbaz's lawyers for several months, proposing to apologies. Shahbaz Sharif was persuaded by his legal staff that there was no use in submitting more paperwork as the paper had already agreed to apologies and remove the defamatory and misleading piece.


title: Shehbaz Sharif

text: Daily Mail publishers and Shehbaz's lawyers signed an agreement of settlement with Tomlin Order in the second week of December 2022 after which "Daily Mail" removed the defamatory article and apologized to the prime minister and his son-in-law. The ANL has promised it will never repeat these false allegations at any forum and has already worked with Google to remove all articles carrying "Daily Mail’s" article.


title: Nolan Gould

text: Nolan Gould (born October 28, 1998) is an American actor known for his role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC sitcom "Modern Family".


title: Nolan Gould

text: Gould was born in New York City, the son of Angela and Edwin Gould. Shortly after his birth, due to his father's military career, he and his parents moved to Phenix City, Alabama. When Gould was five years old, the family moved to California. His older brother, Aidan Gould, is also an actor.


title: Nolan Gould

text: Gould is a member of Mensa, and, as of 2012, had accelerated four grades in school. He stated on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that he has an IQ of 150. During summer 2012, at age 13, Gould took a General Educational Development (GED) test and said he hoped to take online college courses.


title: Nolan Gould

text: Gould began his career at age three doing commercials. His recent films include the lead in the feature "Ghoul", based on the novel by Brian Keene.


title: Nolan Gould

text: As of the 2014–15 TV season, Gould made over US$70,000 per episode for his role on "Modern Family". His other television credits include "Eleventh Hour" and the movie of the week, "Sweet Nothing in My Ear".


title: Nolan Gould

text: In 2017, Gould was featured in the music video for Logic's hit song, "1-800-273-8255," the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga whale () (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the white whale, as it is the only cetacean to regularly occur with this colour; the sea canary, due to its high-pitched calls; and the melonhead, though that more commonly refers to the melon-headed whale, which is an oceanic dolphin.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga is adapted to life in the Arctic, with anatomical and physiological characteristics that differentiate it from other cetaceans. Amongst these are its all-white colour and the absence of a dorsal fin, which allows it to swim under ice with ease. It possesses a distinctive protuberance at the front of its head which houses an echolocation organ called the melon, which in this species is large and deformable. The beluga's body size is between that of a dolphin and a true whale, with males growing up to long and weighing up to . This whale has a stocky body. Like many cetaceans, a large percentage of its weight is blubber (subcutaneous fat). Its sense of hearing is highly developed and its echolocation allows it to move about and find breathing holes under sheet ice.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are gregarious and form groups of 10 animals on average, although during the summer, they can gather in the hundreds or even thousands in estuaries and shallow coastal areas. They are slow swimmers, but can dive to below the surface. They are opportunistic feeders and their diets vary according to their locations and the season. The majority of belugas live in the Arctic Ocean and the seas and coasts around North America, Russia, and Greenland; their worldwide population is thought to number around 200,000. They are migratory and the majority of groups spend the winter around the Arctic ice cap; when the sea ice melts in summer, they move to warmer river estuaries and coastal areas. Some populations are sedentary and do not migrate over great distances during the year.


title: Beluga whale

text: The native peoples of North America and Russia have hunted belugas for many centuries. They were also hunted by non-natives during the 19th century and part of the 20th century. Hunting of belugas is not controlled by the International Whaling Commission, and each country has developed its own regulations in different years. Currently, some Inuit in Canada and Greenland, Alaska Native groups and Russians are allowed to hunt belugas for consumption as well as for sale, as aboriginal whaling is excluded from the International Whaling Commission 1986 moratorium on hunting. The numbers have dropped substantially in Russia and Greenland, but not in Alaska and Canada. Other threats include natural predators (polar bears and killer whales), contamination of rivers (as with Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) which bioaccumulate up the food chain), climate change and infectious diseases. The beluga was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List in 2008 as being "near threatened"; the subpopulation from the Cook Inlet in Alaska, however, is considered critically endangered and is under the protection of the United States' Endangered Species Act. Of all seven extant Canadian beluga populations, those inhabiting eastern Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay, and the St. Lawrence River are listed as endangered.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are one of the most commonly kept cetaceans in captivity and are housed in aquariums, dolphinariums and wildlife parks in North America, Europe and Asia. They are considered charismatic because of their smiling appearance, communicative nature, and supple, graceful movement.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga was first described in 1776 by Peter Simon Pallas. It is a member of the Monodontidae family, which is in turn part of the parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). The Irrawaddy dolphin was once placed in the same family, though recent genetic evidence suggests these dolphins belong to the family Delphinidae. The narwhal is the only other species within the Monodontidae besides the beluga. A skull has been discovered with intermediate characteristics supporting the hypothesis that hybridisation is possible between these two species.


title: Beluga whale

text: The name of the genus, "Delphinapterus", means "dolphin without fin" (from the Greek δελφίν ("delphin"), dolphin and απτερος ("apteros"), without fin) and the species name "leucas" means "white" (from the Greek λευκας ("leukas"), white). The Red List of Threatened Species gives both beluga and white whale as common names, though the former is now more popular. The English name comes from the Russian белу́га, which derives from the word белый ("bélyj"), meaning "white". Nowadays the word белу́га in Russian refers to the beluga sturgeon.


title: Beluga whale

text: The whale is also colloquially known as the "sea canary" on account of its high-pitched squeaks, squeals, clucks, and whistles. A Japanese researcher claimed that he taught a beluga to "talk" by using these sounds to identify three different objects, offering hope that humans may one day be able to communicate effectively with sea mammals. A similar observation has been made by Canadian researchers, where a beluga which died in 2007 "talked" when he was still a subadult. Another example is NOC, a beluga whale that could mimic the rhythm and tone of human language. Beluga whales in the wild have been reported to imitate human voices.


title: Beluga whale

text: Mitochondrial DNA studies have shown modern cetaceans last shared a common ancestor between 25 and 34 million years ago The superfamily Delphinoidea (which contains monodontids, dolphins and porpoises) split from other toothed whales, odontoceti, between 11 and 15 million years ago. Monodontids then split from dolphins (Delphinidae) and later from porpoises (Phocoenidae), their closest relatives in evolutionary terms. In 2017 the genome of a beluga whale was sequenced, comprising 2.327 Gbp of assembled genomic sequence that encoded 29,581 predicted genes. The authors estimated that the genome-wide sequence similarity between beluga whales and killer whales is 97.87%.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga's earliest known distinctive ancestors include the prehistoric "Denebola brachycephala" from the late Miocene epoch (9–10 million years ago), and "Bohaskaia monodontoides", from the early Pliocene (3–5 million years ago). Fossil evidence from Baja California and Virginia indicate the family once inhabited warmer waters. A fossil of the monodontid "Casatia thermophila", from five million years ago, provides the strongest evidence that monodontids once inhabited warmer waters, as the fossil was found alongside fossils of tropical species such as bull and tiger sharks.


title: Beluga whale

text: The fossil record also indicates that, in comparatively recent times, the beluga's range varied with that of the polar ice packs expanding during ice ages and contracting when the ice retreated. Counter-evidence to this theory comes from the finding in 1849 of fossilised beluga bones in Vermont in the United States, from the Atlantic Ocean. The bones were discovered during construction of the first railroad between Rutland and Burlington in Vermont, when workers unearthed the bones of a mysterious animal in Charlotte. Buried nearly below the surface in a thick blue clay, these bones were unlike those of any animal previously discovered in Vermont. Experts identified the bones as those of a beluga. Because Charlotte is over from the nearest ocean, early naturalists were at a loss to explain the presence of the bones of a marine mammal buried beneath the fields of rural Vermont.


title: Beluga whale

text: The remains were found to be preserved in the sediments of the Champlain Sea, an extension of the Atlantic Ocean within the continent resulting from the rise in sea level at the end of the ice ages some 12,000 years ago. Today, the Charlotte whale is the official Vermont State Fossil (making Vermont the only state whose official fossil is that of a still extant animal).


title: Beluga whale

text: Its body is round, particularly when well fed, and tapers less smoothly to the head than the tail. The sudden tapering to the base of its neck gives it the appearance of shoulders, unique among cetaceans. The tail-fin grows and becomes increasingly and ornately curved as the animal ages. The flippers are broad and short—making them almost square-shaped.


title: Beluga whale

text: Preliminary investigations suggested a beluga's life expectancy was rarely more than 30 years. The method used to calculate the age of a beluga is based on counting the layers of dentin and dental cement in a specimen's teeth, which were originally thought to be deposited once or twice a year. The layers can be readily identified as one layer consists of opaque dense material and the other is transparent and less dense. It is therefore possible to estimate the age of the individual by extrapolating the number of layers identified and the estimated frequency with which the deposits are laid down. A 2006 study using radiocarbon dating of the dentin layers showed the deposit of this material occurs with a lesser frequency (once per year) than was previously thought. The study therefore estimated belugas can live for 70 or 80 years. However, recent studies suggest that it is unclear as to whether belugas receive a different number of layers per year depending on the age of the animal (for example young belugas may only receive an additional one layer per year), or simply just one layer per year or every other year.


title: Beluga whale

text: The species presents a moderate degree of sexual dimorphism, as the males are 25% longer than the females and are sturdier. Adult male belugas can range from , while the females measure . Males weigh between , and occasionally up to while females weigh between . They rank as mid-sized species among toothed whales.


title: Beluga whale

text: Individuals of both sexes reach their maximum size by the time they are 10 years old. The beluga's body shape is stocky and fusiform (cone-shaped with the point facing backwards), and they frequently have folds of fat, particularly along the ventral surface. Between 40% and 50% of their body weight is fat, which is a higher proportion than for cetaceans that do not inhabit the Arctic, where fat only represents 30% of body weight. The fat forms a layer that covers all of the body except the head, and it can be up to thick. It acts as insulation in waters with temperatures between 0 and 18 °C, as well as being an important reserve during periods without food.


title: Beluga whale

text: The adult beluga is rarely mistaken for any other species, because it is completely white or whitish-grey in colour. Calves are usually born grey, and by the time they are a month old, have turned dark grey or blue grey. They then start to progressively lose their pigmentation until they attain their distinctive white colouration, at the age of seven years in females and nine in males. The white colouration of the skin is an adaptation to life in the Arctic that allows belugas to camouflage themselves in the polar ice caps as protection against their main predators, polar bears and killer whales. Unlike other cetaceans, the belugas seasonally shed their skin. During the winter, the epidermis thickens and the skin can become yellowish, mainly on the back and fins. When they migrate to the estuaries during the summer, they rub themselves on the gravel of the riverbeds to remove the cutaneous covering.


title: Beluga whale

text: Like most toothed whales, the beluga has a compartment found at the centre of the forehead that contains an organ used for echolocation called a melon, which contains fatty tissue. The shape of the beluga's head is unlike that of any other cetacean, as the melon is extremely bulbous, lobed and visible as a large frontal prominence. Another distinctive characteristic it possesses is the melon is malleable; its shape is changed during the emission of sounds. The beluga is able to change the shape of its head by blowing air around its sinuses to focus the emitted sounds. This organ contains fatty acids, mainly isovaleric acid (60.1%) and long-chain branched acids (16.9%), a very different composition from its body fat, and which could play a role in its echolocation system.


title: Beluga whale

text: Unlike many dolphins and whales, the seven vertebrae in the neck are not fused together, allowing the animal to turn its head laterally without needing to rotate its body. This gives the head a lateral manoeuvrability that allows an improved field of view and movement and helps in catching prey and evading predators in deep water. The rostrum has about eight to ten small, blunt and slightly curved teeth on each side of the jaw and a total of 36 to 40 teeth. Belugas do not use their teeth to chew, but for catching hold of their prey; they then tear them up and swallow them nearly whole.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas only have a single spiracle, which is located on the top of the head behind the melon, and has a muscular covering, allowing it to be completely sealed. Under normal conditions, the spiracle is closed and an animal must contract the muscular covering to open the spiracle. A beluga's thyroid gland is larger than that of terrestrial mammals—weighing three times more than that of a horse—which helps it to maintain a greater metabolism during the summer when it lives in river estuaries. It is the marine cetacean that most frequently develops hyperplastic and neoplastic lesions of the thyroid.


title: Beluga whale

text: The fins retain the bony vestiges of the beluga's mammalian ancestors, and are firmly bound together by connective tissue. The fins are small in relation to the size of the body, rounded and oar-shaped and slightly curled at the tips. These versatile extremities are mainly used as a rudder to control direction, to work in synchrony with the tailfin and for agile movement in shallow waters up to deep. The fins also contain a mechanism for regulating body temperature, as the arteries feeding the fin's muscles are surrounded by veins that dilate or contract to gain or lose heat. The tailfin is flat with two oar-like lobes, it does not have any bones, and is made up of hard, dense, fibrous connective tissue. The tailfin has a distinctive curvature along the lower edge. The longitudinal muscles of the back provide the ascending and descending movement of the tailfin, which has a similar thermoregulation mechanism to the pectoral fins.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas have a dorsal ridge, rather than a dorsal fin. The absence of the dorsal fin is reflected in the genus name of the species—"apterus" the Greek word for "wingless". The evolutionary preference for a dorsal ridge rather than a fin is believed to be an adaptation to under-ice conditions, or possibly as a way of preserving heat. The crest is hard and, along with the head, can be used to open holes in ice up to thick.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga has a very specialised sense of hearing and its auditory cortex is highly developed. It can hear sounds within the range of 1.2 to 120 kHz, with the greatest sensitivity between 10 and 75 kHz, where the average hearing range for humans is 0.02 to 20 kHz. The majority of sounds are most probably received by the lower jaw and transmitted towards the middle ear. In the toothed whales, the lower jawbone is broad with a cavity at its base, which projects towards the place where it joins the cranium. A fatty deposit inside this small cavity connects to the middle ear. Toothed whales also possess a small external auditory hole a few centimetres behind their eyes; each hole communicates with an external auditory conduit and an eardrum. It is not known if these organs are functional or simply vestigial.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are able to see within and outside of water, but their vision is relatively poor when compared to dolphins. Their eyes are especially adapted to seeing under water, although when they come into contact with the air, the crystalline lens and the cornea adjust to overcome the associated myopia (the range of vision under water is short). A beluga's retina has cones and rods, which also suggests they can see in low light. The presence of cone cells indicates they can see colours, although this suggestion has not been confirmed. Glands located in the medial corner of their eyes secrete an oily, gelatinous substance that lubricates the eye and helps flush out foreign bodies. This substance forms a film that protects the cornea and the conjunctiva from pathogenic organisms.


title: Beluga whale

text: Studies on captive animals show they seek frequent physical contact with other belugas. Areas in the mouth have been found that could act as chemoreceptors for different tastes, and they can detect the presence of blood in water, which causes them to react immediately by displaying typical alarm behaviour. Like the other toothed whales, their brains lack olfactory bulbs and olfactory nerves, which suggests they do not have a sense of smell.


title: Beluga whale

text: These cetaceans are highly sociable and they regularly form small groups, or pods, that may contain between two and 25 individuals, with an average of 10 members. Pods tend to be unstable, meaning individuals tend to move from pod to pod. Radio tracking has even shown belugas can start out in one pod and within a few days be hundreds of miles away from that pod. Beluga whale pods can be grouped into three categories, nurseries (which consist of mother and calves), bachelors (which consist of all males) and mixed groups. Mixed groups contain animals of both sexes. Many hundreds and even thousands of individuals can be present when the pods join in river estuaries during the summer. This can represent a significant proportion of the total population and is when they are most vulnerable to being hunted.


title: Beluga whale

text: They are cooperative animals and frequently hunt in coordinated groups. The animals in a pod are very sociable and often chase each other as if they are playing or fighting, and they often rub against each other. Often individuals will surface and dive together in a synchronized manner, in a behavior known as milling.


title: Beluga whale

text: In captivity, they can be seen to be constantly playing, vocalising and swimming around each other. In one case, one whale blew bubbles, while the other one popped them. There have also been reports of beluga whales copying and imitating one another, similar to a game of Simon-says. Individuals have also been reported them displaying physical affection, via mouth to mouth contact. They also show a great deal of curiosity towards humans and frequently approach the windows in the tanks to observe them.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas also show a great degree of curiosity towards humans in the wild, and frequently swim alongside boats. They also play with objects they find in the water; in the wild, they do this with wood, plants, dead fish and bubbles they have created. During the breeding season, adults have been observed carrying objects such as plants, nets, and even the skeleton of a dead reindeer on their heads and backs. Captive females have also been observed displaying this behavior, carrying items such as floats and buoys, after they have lost a calf. Experts consider this interaction with the objects to be a substitute behavior.


title: Beluga whale

text: In captivity, mothering behavior among belugas depends on the individual. Some mothers are extremely attentive while other mothers are so blasé, that they have actually lost their calves. In aquaria, there have been cases where dominant females have stolen calves from mothers, particularly if they have lost a calf or if they are pregnant. After giving birth, dominant females will return the calf back to their mother. Additionally, male calves will temporarily leave their mothers to interact with an adult male who can serve as a role model for the calf, before they return to their mothers. Male calves are also frequently seen interacting with each other.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are slower swimmers than the other toothed whales, such as the killer whale and the common bottlenose dolphin, because they are less hydrodynamic and have limited movement of their tail-fins, which produce the greatest thrust. They frequently swim at speeds between , although they are able to maintain a speed of 22 km/h for up to 15 min. Unlike most cetaceans, they are capable of swimming backwards. Belugas swim on the surface between 5% and 10% of the time, while for the rest of the time they swim at a depth sufficient enough to cover their bodies. They do not jump out of the water like dolphins or killer whales.


title: Beluga whale

text: These animals usually only dive to depths to , although they are capable of diving to greater depths. Individual captive animals have been recorded at depths between 400 and 647 m below sea level, while animals in the wild have been recorded as diving to a depth of more than 700 m, with the greatest recorded depth being over 900 m. A dive normally lasts 3 to 5 minutes, but can last up to over 20 minutes. In the shallower water of the estuaries, a diving session may last around two minutes; the sequence consists of five or six rapid, shallow dives followed by a deeper dive lasting up to one minute. The average number of dives per day varies between 31 and 51.


title: Beluga whale

text: All cetaceans, including belugas, have physiological adaptations designed to conserve oxygen while they are under water. During a dive, these animals will reduce their heart rate from 100 beats a minute to between 12 and 20. Blood flow is diverted away from certain tissues and organs and towards the brain, heart and lungs, which require a constant oxygen supply. The amount of oxygen dissolved in the blood is 5.5%, which is greater than that found in land-based mammals and is similar to that of Weddell seals (a diving marine mammal). One study found a female beluga had 16.5 L of oxygen dissolved in her blood. Lastly, the beluga's muscles contain high levels of the protein myoglobin, which stores oxygen in muscle. Myoglobin concentrations in belugas are several times greater than for terrestrial mammals, which help prevent oxygen deficiency during dives.


title: Beluga whale

text: Beluga whales often accompany bowhead whales, for curiosity and to secure polynya feasibility to breathe as bowheads are capable of breaking through ice from underwater by headbutting.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas play an important role in the structure and function of marine resources in the Arctic Ocean, as they are the most abundant toothed whales in the region. They are opportunistic feeders; their feeding habits depend on their locations and the season. For example, when they are in the Beaufort Sea, they mainly eat Arctic cod ("Boreogadus saida") and the stomachs of belugas caught near Greenland were found to contain rose fish ("Sebastes marinus"), Greenland halibut ("Reinhardtius hippoglossoides") and northern shrimp ("Pandalus borealis"), while in Alaska their staple diet is Coho salmon ("Oncorhynchus kisutch"). In general, the diets of these cetaceans consist mainly of fish; apart from those previously mentioned, other fish they feed on include capelin ("Mallotus villosus"), smelt, sole, flounder, herring, sculpin and other types of salmon. They also consume a great quantity of invertebrates, such as shrimp, squid, crabs, clams, octopus, sea snails, bristle worms and other deep-sea species. Belugas feed mainly in winter as their blubber is thickest in later winter and early spring, and thinnest in the fall. Inuit observation has led scientists to believe that belugas do not hunt during migration, at least in Hudson Bay


title: Beluga whale

text: The diet of Alaskan belugas is quite diverse and varies depending on season and migratory behavior. Belugas in the Beaufort Sea mainly feed on staghorn and shorthorn sculpin, walleye pollock, Arctic cod, saffron cod and Pacific sand lance. Shrimp are the most common invertebrate eaten, with octopus, amphipods and echiurids being other sources of invertebrate prey. The most common prey species for belugas in the Eastern Chukchi Sea appears to be shrimp, echiurid worms, cephalopods and polychaetas. The largest prey item consumed by beluga whales in the Eastern Chukchi Sea seems to be saffron cod. Beluga whales in the Eastern Bering Sea feed on a variety of fish species including saffron cod, rainbow smelt, walleye pollock, Pacific salmon, Pacific Herring and several species of flounder and sculpin. The primary invertebrate consumed is shrimp. The primary prey item in regard to fish species for belugas in Bristol Bay appears to be the five species of salmon, with sockeye being the most prevalent. Smelt is also another common fish family eaten by belugas in this region. Shrimp is the most prevalent invertebrate prey item. The most common prey items for belugas in Cook Inlet appear to be salmon, cod and smelt.


title: Beluga whale

text: Animals in captivity eat 2.5% to 3.0% of their body weight per day, which equates to 18.2 to 27.2 kg. Like their wild counterparts, captive belugas were found to eat less in the fall.


title: Beluga whale

text: Foraging on the seabed typically takes place at depths between 20 and 40 m, although they can dive to depths of 700 m in search of food. Their flexible necks provide a wide range of movement while they are searching for food on the ocean floor. Some animals have been observed to suck up water and then forcefully expel it to uncover their prey hidden in the silt on the seabed. As their teeth are neither large nor sharp, belugas must use suction to bring their prey into their mouths; it also means their prey has to be consumed whole, which in turn means it cannot be too large or the belugas run the risk of it getting stuck in their throats. They also join into coordinated groups of five or more to feed on shoals of fish by steering the fish into shallow water, where the belugas then attack them. For example, in the estuary of the Amur River, where they mainly feed on salmon, groups of six or eight individuals join to surround a shoal of fish and prevent their escape. Individuals then take turns feeding on the fish.


title: Beluga whale

text: Estimations of the age of sexual maturity for beluga whales vary considerably; the majority of authors estimate males reach sexual maturity when they are between nine and fifteen years old, and females reach maturity when they are between eight and fourteen years old. The average age at which females first give birth is 8.5 years and fertility begins to decrease when they are 25, eventually undergoing menopause, and ceasing reproductive potential with no births recorded for females older than 41. There is a slight difference on the sexual maturation period between males and females. The male beluga whales take seven to nine years to become sexually matured, while the females take four to seven years.


title: Beluga whale

text: Female belugas typically give birth to one calf every three years. Most mating occurs usually February through May, but some mating occurs at other times of year. The beluga may have delayed implantation. Gestation has been estimated to last 12.0 to 14.5 months, but information derived from captive females suggests a longer gestation period up to 475 days (15.8 months). During the mating season, the testes mass of belugas will double in weight. Testosterone levels increase, but seems to be independent of copulation. Copulation typically takes place between 3 and 4 AM.


title: Beluga whale

text: Calves are born over a protracted period that varies by location. In the Canadian Arctic, calves are born between March and September, while in Hudson Bay, the peak calving period is in late June, and in Cumberland Sound, most calves are born from late July to early August. Births usually take place in bays or estuaries where the water is warm with a temperature of 10 to 15 °C. Newborns are about long, weigh about , and are grey in colour. They are able to swim alongside their mothers immediately after birth. The newborn calves nurse under water and initiate lactation a few hours after birth; thereafter, they feed at intervals around an hour. Studies of captive females have indicated their milk composition varies between individuals and with the stage of lactation; it has an average content of 28% fat, 11% protein, 60.3% water, and less than 1% residual solids. The milk contains about 92 cal per ounce.


title: Beluga whale

text: The calves remain dependent on their mothers for nursing for the first year, when their teeth appear. After this, they start to supplement their diets with shrimp and small fish. The majority of the calves continue nursing until they are 20 months old, although occasionally lactation can continue for more than two years, and lactational anoestrus may not occur. Alloparenting (care by females different from the mother) has been observed in captive belugas, including spontaneous and long-term milk production. This suggests this behaviour, which is also seen in other mammals, may be present in belugas in the wild.


title: Beluga whale

text: Hybrids have been documented between the beluga and the narwhal (specifically offspring conceived by a beluga father and a narwhal mother), as one, perhaps even as many as three, such hybrids were killed and harvested during a sustenance hunt. Whether or not these hybrids could breed remains unknown. The unusual dentition seen in the single remaining skull indicates the hybrid hunted on the seabed, much as walruses do, indicating feeding habits different from those of either parent species.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas use sounds and echolocation for movement, communication, to find breathing holes in the ice, and to hunt in dark or turbid waters. They produce a rapid sequence of clicks that pass through the melon, which acts as an acoustic lens to focus the sounds into a beam that is projected forward through the surrounding water. These sounds spread through the water at a speed of nearly 1.6 km per second, some four times faster than the speed of sound in air. The sound waves reflect from objects and return as echoes that are heard and interpreted by the animal. This enables them to determine the distance, speed, size, shape and the object's internal structure within the beam of sound. They use this ability when moving around thick Arctic ice sheets, to find areas of unfrozen water for breathing, or air pockets trapped under the ice.


title: Beluga whale

text: Some evidence indicates that belugas are highly sensitive to noise produced by humans. In one study, the maximum frequencies produced by an individual located in San Diego Bay, California, were between 40 and 60 kHz. The same individual produced sounds with a maximum frequency of 100 to 120 kHz when transferred to Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii. The difference in frequencies is thought to be a response to the difference in environmental noise in the two areas. In special circumstances, beluga whale sounds have been reported to resemble human speech.


title: Beluga whale

text: These animals communicate using sounds of high frequency; their calls can sound like bird songs, so belugas were nicknamed "canaries of the sea". Like the other toothed whales, belugas do not possess vocal cords and the sounds are probably produced by the movement of air between the nasal sacks, which are located near to the blowhole.


title: Beluga whale

text: As a toothed whale, beluga calls can be broken down into the categories of whistles, clicks and burst calls. Whistles tend to indicate social communication while clicks indicate navigation and foraging. Burst calls tend to indicate aggression.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are among the most vocal cetaceans. They use their vocalisations for echolocation, during mating and for communication. They possess a large repertoire, emitting up to 11 different sounds, such as cackles, whistles, trills and squawks. They make sounds by grinding their teeth or splashing, but they rarely use body language.


title: Beluga whale

text: There is debate as to whether cetacean vocalizations can constitute a language. A study conducted in 2015 determined that European beluga signals share physical features comparable to “vowels.” These sounds were found to be stable throughout time, but varied among different geographical locations. The further away the populations were from each other, the more varied the sounds were in relation to one another.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga inhabits a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. During the summer, they can mainly be found in deep waters ranging from 76°N to 80°N, particularly along the coasts of Alaska, northern Canada, western Greenland and northern Russia. The southernmost extent of their range includes isolated populations in the St. Lawrence River in the Atlantic, and the Amur River delta, the Shantar Islands and the waters surrounding Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas have a seasonal migratory pattern. Migration patterns are passed from parents to offspring. Some travel as far as 6,000 kilometres per year. When the summer sites become blocked with ice during the autumn, they move to spend the winter in the open sea alongside the pack ice or in areas covered with ice, surviving by using polynyas to surface and breathe. In summer after the sheet ice has melted, they move to coastal areas with shallower water (1–3 m deep), although sometimes they migrate towards deeper waters (>800 m). In the summer, they occupy estuaries and the waters of the continental shelf, and, on occasion, they even swim up the rivers. A number of incidents have been reported where groups or individuals have been found hundreds or even thousands of kilometres from the ocean. One such example comes from June 9, 2006, when a young beluga carcass was found in the Tanana River near Fairbanks in central Alaska, nearly from the nearest ocean habitat. Belugas sometimes follow migrating fish, leading Alaska state biologist Tom Seaton to speculate it had followed migrating salmon up the river at some point in the previous autumn. The rivers they most often travel up include: the Northern Dvina, the Mezen, the Pechora, the Ob and the Yenisei in Asia; the Yukon and the Kuskokwim in Alaska, and the Saint Lawrence in Canada. Spending time in a river has been shown to stimulate an animal's metabolism and facilitates the seasonal renewal of the epidermal layer. In addition, the rivers represent a safe haven for newborn calves where they will not be preyed upon by killer whales. Calves often return to the same estuary as their mother in the summer, meeting her sometimes even after becoming fully mature. However, not all beluga whale populations summer in estuaries. Belugas from the Beaufort Sea stock were found to summer along the Eastern Beaufort Sea shelf, Amundsen Gulf and slope regions north and west of Banks Island, in addition to core areas in the Mackenzie River Estuary. Male belugas have been observed summering in deeper waters along Viscount Melville Sound, in depths of up to 600 meters. The bulk of Eastern Chukchi Sea belugas summer over Barrow canyon.


title: Beluga whale

text: The migration season is relatively predictable, as it is basically determined by the amount of daylight and not by other variable physical or biological factors, such as the condition of the sea ice. Vagrants may travel further south to areas such as Irish and Scottish waters, the islands of Orkney and Hebrides, and to Japanese waters. There had been several vagrant individuals that have demonstrated seasonal residencies at Volcano Bay, and a unique whale were used to return annually to areas adjacent to Shibetsu in Nemuro Strait in the 2000s. On rarer occasions, individuals of vagrancy can reach the Korean Peninsula. A few other individuals have been confirmed to return to the coasts of Hokkaido, and one particular individual became a resident in brackish waters of Lake Notoro since in 2014.


title: Beluga whale

text: Some populations are not migratory and certain resident groups will stay in well-defined areas, such as in Cook Inlet, the estuary of the Saint Lawrence River and Cumberland Sound. The population in Cook Inlet stays in the waters furthest inside the inlet during the summer until the end of autumn. Then during the winter, they disperse to the deeper water in the center of the inlet, but without completely leaving it.


title: Beluga whale

text: In April, the animals that spend the winter in the center and southwest of the Bering Sea move to the north coast of Alaska and the east coast of Russia. The populations living in the Ungava Bay and the eastern and western sides of Hudson Bay overwinter together beneath the sea ice in Hudson Strait. Whales in James Bay that spend winter months within the basin, could be a distinct group from those in Hudson Bay. The populations of the White Sea, the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea overwinter in the Barents Sea. In the spring, the groups separate and migrate to their respective summer sites.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas exploit a varied range of habitats; they are most commonly seen in shallow waters close to the coast, but they have also been reported to live for extended periods in deeper water, where they feed and give birth to their young.


title: Beluga whale

text: In coastal areas, they can be found in coves, fjords, canals, bays and shallow waters in the Arctic Ocean that are continuously lit by sunlight. They are also often seen during the summer in river estuaries, where they feed, socialize and give birth to young. These waters usually have a temperature between 8 and 10 °C. The mudflats of Cook Inlet in Alaska are a popular location for these animals to spend the first few months of summer. In the eastern Beaufort Sea, female belugas with their young and immature males prefer the open waters close to land, while the adult males live in waters covered by ice near the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The younger males and females with slightly older young can be found nearer to the ice shelf. Generally, the use of different habitats in summer reflects differences in feeding habits, risk from predators and reproductive factors for each of the subpopulations.


title: Beluga whale

text: The Yakutat Bay belugas are not considered to be a true stock because they have only been present in these waters since the 1980s, and are believed to be of Cook Inlet origin. It is estimated that less than 20 whales inhabit the bay year-round. Overall the beluga population is estimated to be 150,000–200,000 animals.


title: Beluga whale

text: The native populations of the Arctic in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia hunt belugas, for both consumption and profit. Belugas have been easy prey for hunters due to their predictable migration patterns and the high population density in estuaries and surrounding coastal areas during the summer.


title: Beluga whale

text: The number of animals killed is about 1,000 per year, (see table below. and its sources). Beluga whale hunting quotas in Canada and the United States are established using the Potential Biological Removal equation PBR = Nmin * 0.5 * Rmax * FR, to determine what constitutes a sustainable hunt. Nmin represents a conservative estimation of the population size, Rmax, represents the maximum rate of population increase and FR represents the recovery factor.


title: Beluga whale

text: Hunters in Hudson's Bay rarely eat the 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. In Greenland the skin (muktuk) is sold commercially to fish factories, and in Canada to other communities. An average of one or two vertebrae and one or two teeth per beluga 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. However, the net income, after subtracting costs in time and equipment, was a loss of per person. 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 skin and meat, to replace beef, pork and chickens which would otherwise be bought. was received for carved vertebrae and teeth.


title: Beluga whale

text: Russia now harvests 5 to 30 belugas per year for meat and captures an additional 20 to 30 per year for live export to Chinese aquaria. However, in 2018, 100 were illegally captured for live export.


title: Beluga whale

text: Previous levels of commercial whaling have put the species in danger of extinction in areas such as Cook Inlet, Ungava Bay, the St. Lawrence River and western Greenland. Continued hunting by the native peoples may mean some populations will continue to decline. Northern Canadian sites are the focus of discussions between local communities and the Canadian government, with the objective of permitting sustainable hunting that does not put the species at risk of extinction.


title: Beluga whale

text: The total amount of landed (defined as belugas successfully hunted and retrieved) belugas averages 275 in regard to the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort stocks from 1987 to 2006. The average annual landed harvest of belugas in the Beaufort Sea consisted of 39 individuals while the Chukchi harvest averaged 62 individuals. Bristol bay's annual average landed harvest was 17 while the Bering Sea's was 152. Statistical studies have demonstrated that subsistence hunting in Alaska did not significantly impact the population of the Alaskan beluga whale stocks. The number of belugas struck and lost did not seem to profoundly impact Chukchi and Bering Sea belugas.


title: Beluga whale

text: Commercial whaling by European, American and Russian whalers during the 18th and 19th centuries decreased beluga populations in the Arctic. The animals were hunted for their meat and blubber, while the Europeans used the oil from the melon as a lubricant for clocks, machinery and lighting in lighthouses. Mineral oil replaced whale oil in the 1860s, but into the early 20th century the cured skin was still used to make horse harnesses and machine belts for saw mills and shoelaces. The cured skin is the only cetacean skin that is sufficiently thick to be used as leather, and was used to manufacture some of the first bulletproof vests.


title: Beluga whale

text: Russia had large hunts, peaking in the 1930s at 4,000 per year and the 1960s at 7,000 per year, for a total of 86,000 from 1915 to 2014. Canada hunted a total of 54,000 from 1731 to 1970. Between 1868 and 1911, Scottish and American whalers killed more than 20,000 belugas in Lancaster Sound and Davis Strait.


title: Beluga whale

text: During the 1920s, fishermen in the Saint Lawrence River estuary considered belugas to be a threat to the fishing industry, as they eat large quantities of cod, salmon, tuna and other fish caught by the local fishermen. The presence of belugas in the estuary was, therefore, considered to be undesirable; in 1928, the Government of Quebec offered a reward of 15 dollars for each dead beluga. The Quebec Department of Fisheries launched a study into the influence of these cetaceans on local fish populations in 1938. The unrestricted killing of belugas continued into the 1950s, when the supposed voracity of the belugas was found to be overestimated and did not adversely affect fish populations. L'Isle-aux-Coudres is the setting for the classic 1963 National Film Board of Canada documentary "Pour la suite du monde", which depicts a one-off resurrection of the beluga hunt; one animal is caught live, and transported by truck to an aquarium in the big city. The method of capture is akin to dolphin drive hunting.


title: Beluga whale

text: During the winter, belugas commonly become trapped in the ice without being able to escape to open water, which may be several kilometres away. Polar bears take particular advantage of these situations and are able to locate the belugas using their sense of smell. The bears swipe at the belugas and drag them onto the ice to eat them. They are able to capture large individuals in this way; in one documented incident, a bear weighing between 150 and 180 kg was able to capture a beluga that weighed 935 kg.


title: Beluga whale

text: Killer whales are able to capture both young and adult belugas. They live in all the seas of the world and share the same habitat as belugas in the sub-Arctic region. Attacks on belugas by killer whales have been reported in the waters of Greenland, Russia, Canada and Alaska. A number of killings have been recorded in Cook Inlet, and experts are concerned the predation by killer whales will impede the recovery of this sub-population, which has already been badly depleted by hunting. The killer whales arrive at the beginning of August, but the belugas are occasionally able to hear their presence and evade them. The groups near to or under the sea ice have a degree of protection, as the killer whale's large dorsal fin, up to 2 m in length, impedes their movement under the ice and does not allow them to get sufficiently close to the breathing holes in the ice. Beluga whale behavior under killer whale predation makes them vulnerable to hunters. When killer whales are present, large numbers of beluga whales congregate in the shallows for protection, which allows them to be hunted in droves.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga is considered an excellent sentinel species (indicator of environment health and changes), because it is long-lived, at the top of the food web, bears large amounts of fat and blubber, relatively well-studied for a cetacean, and still somewhat common.


title: Beluga whale

text: Human pollution can be a threat to belugas' health when they congregate in river estuaries. Chemical substances such as DDT and heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium have been found in individuals of the Saint Lawrence River population. Local beluga carcasses contain so many contaminants, they are treated as toxic waste. Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls between 240 and 800 ppm have been found in belugas' brains, liver and muscles, with the highest levels found in males. These levels are significantly greater than those found in Arctic populations. These substances have a proven adverse effect on these cetaceans, as they cause cancers, reproductive diseases and the deterioration of the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to pneumonias, ulcers, cysts, tumours and bacterial infections. Although the populations that inhabit the river estuaries run the greatest risk of contamination, high levels of zinc, cadmium, mercury and selenium have also been found in the muscles, livers and kidneys of animals that live in the open sea. Mercury is a particular area of concern. The concentration of Mercury in Beaufort Sea belugas tripled from the 1980s to the 1990s. However, mercury concentration has decreased in Beaufort belugas as of the 21st century, possibly due to changes in dietary preference. Larger body sized belugas tend to have more mercury than smaller sized belugas, because they spend more time offshore, hunting prey such as cod and shrimp, which have more mercury.


title: Beluga whale

text: From a sample of 129 beluga adults from the Saint Lawrence River examined between 1983 and 1999, a total of 27% had suffered cancer. This is a higher percentage than that documented for other populations of this species and is much higher than for other cetaceans and for the majority of terrestrial mammals; in fact, the rate is only comparable to the levels found in humans and some domesticated animals. For example, the rate of intestinal cancer in the sample is much higher than for humans. This condition is thought to be directly related to environmental contamination, in this case by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and coincides with the high incidence of this disease in humans residing in the area. The prevalence of tumours suggests the contaminants identified in the animals that inhabit the estuary are having a direct carcinogenic effect or they are at least causing an immunological deterioration that is reducing the inhabitants' resistance to the disease.


title: Beluga whale

text: Indirect human disturbance may also be a threat. While some populations tolerate small boats, most actively try to avoid ships. Whale-watching has become a booming activity in the St. Lawrence and Churchill River areas, and acoustic contamination from this activity appears to have an effect on belugas. For example, a correlation appears to exist between the passage of belugas across the mouth of the Saguenay River, which has decreased by 60%, and the increase in the use of recreational motorboats in the area. A dramatic decrease has also been recorded in the number of calls between animals (decreasing from 3.4 to 10.5 calls/min to 0 or <1) after exposure to the noise produced by ships, the effect being most persistent and pronounced with larger ships such as ferries than with smaller boats. Belugas can detect the presence of large ships (for example icebreakers) up to 50 km away, and they move rapidly in the opposite direction or perpendicular to the ship following the edge of the sea ice for distances of up to 80 km to avoid them. The presence of shipping produces avoidance behaviour, causing deeper dives for feeding, the break-up of groups, and asynchrony in dives.


title: Beluga whale

text: As with any animal population, a number of pathogens cause death and disease in belugas, including viruses, bacteria, protozoans and fungi, which mainly cause skin, intestinal and respiratory infections.


title: Beluga whale

text: Papillomaviruses, herpesviruses, and encephalitis caused by the protozoan "Sarcocystis" have been found in belugas in the Saint Lawrence River. Cases have been recorded of ciliate protozoa colonising the spiracle of certain individuals, but they are not thought to be pathogens or are not very harmful. The bacterium "Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae", which probably comes from eating infected fish, poses a threat to belugas kept in captivity, causing anorexia and dermal plaques and lesions that can lead to sepsis. This condition can cause death if it is not diagnosed and treated in time with antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin. A study of infections caused by parasitic worms in a number of individuals of both sexes found the presence of larvae from a species from the genus "Contracaecum" in their stomachs and intestines, "Anisakis simplex" in their stomachs, "Pharurus pallasii" in their ear canals, "Hadwenius seymouri" in their intestines and "Leucasiella arctica" in their rectums.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas were among the first whale species to be kept in captivity. 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 for belugas destined for exhibition. Throughout the early 1960s, belugas were taken from the St. Lawrence River estuary. In 1967, the Churchill River estuary became the main source from which belugas were captured. This continued until 1992, when the practice was banned. Since Canada ceased to be the supplier of these animals, Russia has become the largest provider. Individuals are caught in the Amur River delta and the far eastern seas of the country, and then are either transported domestically to aquaria in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi, or exported to foreign nations, including China and formerly Canada. Canada has now banned the practice of holding new animals in captivity.


title: Beluga whale

text: To provide some enrichment while in captivity, aquaria train belugas to perform behaviours for the public and for medical exams, such as blood draws, ultrasound, providing toys, and allowing the public to play recorded or live music.


title: Beluga whale

text: Between 1960 and 1992, the United States Navy carried out a program that included the study of marine mammals' abilities with echolocation, with the objective of improving the detection of underwater objects. The program started with dolphins, but a large number of belugas were also used from 1975 onwards. The program included training these mammals to carry equipment and material to divers working under water, the location of lost objects, surveillance of ships and submarines, and underwater monitoring using cameras held in their mouths. A similar program was implemented by the Soviet Navy during the Cold War, in which belugas were also trained for antimining operations in Arctic waters. It is possible this program continues within the Russian Navy, as on April 24, 2019, a tame beluga whale wearing a Russian equipment harness was found by fishermen near the Norwegian island of Ingøya.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas released from captivity have difficulties adapting to life in the wild, but if not fed by humans they may have a chance to join a group of wild belugas and learn to feed themselves, according to Audun Rikardsen of the University of Tromsø.


title: Beluga whale

text: In 2019, a sanctuary in Iceland was established for two belugas, Little White and Little Grey, that retired from a marine park in China. The Sea Life Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary was created with support from Merlin Entertainments and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). Merlin bought the park in 2012, as part of an Australian chain, and it is one of their largest aquaria. Merlin has a policy against captive cetaceans, so they sponsored a 32,000-square-metre sea pen as a sanctuary. The 12-year-old belugas, caught in Russia and raised in captivity, do not know how to live in the wild. The cost is variously listed as ISK 3,000,000 (US$24,000) or US$27,000,000. Merlin was owned until 2015 by Blackstone Group, which also owned SeaWorld until selling its last stake in 2017 to a Chinese company which will use SeaWorld's expertise to expand in China; SeaWorld still keeps belugas in captivity.


title: Beluga whale

text: Belugas are the only whale species kept in aquaria and marine parks. They are displayed across North America, Europe and Asia. As of 2006, 58 belugas were held in captivity in Canada and the United States, and 42 deaths in US captivity had been reported up to that time. A single specimen costs up to US$100,000, although the price has now dropped to US$70,000. As of January 2018, according to the nonprofit Ceta Base, which tracks belugas and dolphins under human care, there were 81 captive belugas in Canada and the United States, and unknown numbers in the rest of the world. The beluga's popularity with visitors reflects its attractive colour and its range of 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.


title: Beluga whale

text: Most belugas found in aquaria are caught in the wild, as captive-breeding programs have not had much success so far. For example, despite best efforts, as of 2010, only two male whales had been successfully used as stud animals in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums beluga population, Nanuq at SeaWorld San Diego and Naluark at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, USA. Nanuq has fathered 10 calves, five of which survived birth. Naluark at Shedd Aquarium has fathered four living offspring. Naluark was relocated to the Mystic Aquarium in the hope that he would breed with two of their females, but he did not, and in 2016 he was moved to SeaWorld Orlando. The first beluga calf born in captivity in Europe was born in L'Oceanogràfic marine park in Valencia, Spain, in November 2006. However, the calf died 25 days later after suffering metabolic complications, infections and not being able to feed properly. A second calf was born on 16 November 2016, and was successfully maintained by artificial feeding based on enriched milk.


title: Beluga whale

text: In 2009 during a free-diving competition in a tank of icy water in Harbin, China, a captive beluga brought a cramp-paralysed diver from the bottom of the pool up to the surface by holding her foot in its mouth, saving the diver's life.


title: Beluga whale

text: Films which have publicised issues of beluga welfare include Born to Be Free, Sonic Sea, and Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered.


title: Beluga whale

text: Whale watching has become an important activity in the recovery of the economies of towns in Quebec and Hudson Bay, near the Saint Lawrence and Churchill Rivers (in fact Churchill is considered to be the Beluga Whale Capital of the World) respectively. The best time to see belugas is during the summer, when they meet in large numbers in the estuaries of the rivers and in their summer habitats. The animals are easily seen due to their high numbers and their curiosity regarding the presence of humans.


title: Beluga whale

text: However, the boats' presence poses a threat to the animals, as it distracts them from important activities such as feeding, social interaction and reproduction. In addition, the noise produced by the motors has an adverse effect on their auditory function and reduces their ability to detect their prey, communicate and navigate. To protect these marine animals during whale-watching activities, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published a "Guide for observing marine life". The guide recommends boats carrying the whale watchers keep their distance from the cetaceans and it expressly prohibits chasing, harassing, obstructing, touching, or feeding them.


title: Beluga whale

text: Some regular migrations do occur into Russian EEZ of Sea of Japan such as to Rudnaya Bay, where diving with wild belugas became a less-known but popular attraction.


title: Beluga whale

text: On 25 September 2018, a beluga was sighted in the Thames Estuary and near towns along the Kent side of the Thames, being nicknamed Benny by newspapers. The whale, who was noticed by conservationists to be traveling alone, appeared to be separated from the rest of its group, and is thought to be a lost individual. Subsequent sightings were reported on the following day, and continued into 2019, when local experts concluded that Benny had left the estuary.


title: Beluga whale

text: On 13 May 2021, two beluga whales were sighted in waters around Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Canada. One whale entered the Charlottetown Harbour and travelled up the Hillsborough River to Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island. As of 30 May the whale was still sighted in the area.


title: Beluga whale

text: Male belugas in captivity can mimic the pattern of human speech, several octaves lower than typical whale calls. It is not the first time a beluga has been known to sound human, and they often shout like children, in the wild. One captive beluga, after overhearing divers using an underwater communication system, caused one of the divers to surface by imitating their order to get out of the water. Subsequent recordings confirmed that the beluga had become skilled at imitating the patterns and frequency of human speech. After several years, this beluga ceased making these sounds.


title: Beluga whale

text: Prior to 2008, the beluga was listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a higher level of concern. The IUCN cited the stability of the largest sub-populations and improved census methods that indicate a larger population than previously estimated. In 2008, the beluga was reclassified as "near threatened" by the IUCN due to uncertainty about threats to their numbers and the number of belugas over parts of its range (especially the Russian Arctic), and the expectation that if current conservation efforts cease, especially hunting management, the beluga population is likely to qualify for "threatened" status within five years. In June 2017, its status was reassessed to "least concern".


title: Beluga whale

text: There are about 21 sub-populations of beluga whales and it is estimated that 200,000 individuals still exist, which are listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. However, the nonmigratory Cook Inlet sub-population off the Gulf of Alaska is a separate sub-population that is listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN as of 2006 and as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act as of October 2008. This was primarily due to unregulated overharvesting of beluga whales prior to 1998. The population has remained relatively consistent, though the reported harvest has been small. As of 2016, the estimated abundance of the endangered Cook Inlet population was 293 individuals. The most recent estimate in 2018 by NOAA Fisheries suggested that the population declined to 279 individuals.


title: Beluga whale

text: Despite beluga whales not being threatened overall, sub-populations are being listed as critically endangered and are facing increased mortality from human actions. For example, even though commercial hunting is now banned due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, beluga whales are still being hunted to preserve the livelihood of native Alaskan communities. The IUCN and NOAA Fisheries cite habitat degradation, oil and gas drilling, underwater noise, harvesting for consumption and climate change as threats to the prolonged survival of beluga whale sub-populations.


title: Beluga whale

text: Beluga whale populations are currently being harvested at levels which are not sustainable and it is difficult for those harvesting beluga whales to know which sub-population they are from. Because there is little protection of sub-populations, harvest will need to be managed to ensure sub-populations will survive long into the future to discover the importance of their migratory patterns and habitat use.


title: Beluga whale

text: Beluga whales, like most other arctic species, are being faced with alteration of their habitat due to climate change and melting arctic ice. Changes in sea-ice has resulted in changes in the area used by Chukchi belugas, since belugas spent less time in close proximity to the ice edge in comparison to previous years. Additionally, Chukchi Sea belugas spent a prolonged amount of time in Barrow Canyon on the Beaufort Sea side in October. Chukchi sea belugas also appear to be spending more time in deeper water presently, as opposed to the 1990s. Belugas also seemed to be taking longer and deeper dives. A hypothesis as to why this might be the case is an up-welling of rich Atlantic water in the Beaufort Sea may result in concentrated prey items like Arctic cod. The fall migration of Chukchi belugas is later, although summer and fall habitat selection has not changed. Fall migration of Chukchi belugas appears to be correlated with Beaufort Sea freeze up.


title: Beluga whale

text: It is hypothesized that beluga whales utilize ice as protection from killer whale predation or for feeding on schools of fish. Killer whales can penetrate further into the Arctic and remain in arctic waters for a longer period of time due to reductions in sea ice. For example, residents in Kotzebue, have reported that killer whales have been sighted more frequently in Kotzebue Sound.


title: Beluga whale

text: As annual ice cover declines, humans may gain access and disrupt beluga whale habitats. For example, the number of vessels in the Arctic for gas and oil exploration, fishing, and commercial shipping has already increased and a continuous trend may lead to higher risks of injuries and deaths for beluga whales.


title: Beluga whale

text: In addition, it is possible that beluga whales may face by an increased risk of entrapment from leads and cracks freezing, due to the erratic nature of climate change. Abrupt changes in weather can cause these leads and cracks to freeze ultimately causing the whales to die of suffocation. An increase in urbanization will likely lead to higher concentrations of toxic pollutants in the blubber of beluga whales since they are at the top of the food chain and are affected by bio-accumulation. Loss of sea ice and a change in ocean temperatures may also affect the distribution and composition of prey or affect their competition. There is also some evidence that climate change can affect males and females differently. Since 1983, belugas have been increasing scarce in Kotzebue sound. However, in 2007, several hundred whales were spotted in the sound, with over 90% of the whales being male. However, more research needs to be conducted to understand how climate change affects beluga whale sex aggregation.


title: Beluga whale

text: The US Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, outlawing the persecution and hunting of all marine mammals within US coastal waters. The act has been amended a number of times to permit subsistence hunting by native peoples, temporary capture of restricted numbers for research, education and public display, and to decriminalise the accidental capture of individuals during fishing operations. The act also states that all whales in US territorial waters are under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of NOAA.


title: Beluga whale

text: To prevent hunting, belugas are protected under the 1986 International Moratorium on Commercial Whaling; however, hunting of small numbers of belugas is still allowed. Since it is very difficult to know the exact population of belugas because their habitats include inland waters away from the ocean, they easily come in contact with oil and gas development centres. To prevent whales from coming in contact with industrial waste, the Alaskan and Canadian governments are relocating sites where whales and waste come in contact.


title: Beluga whale

text: The beluga whale is listed on appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). It is listed on appendix II as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements. All toothed whales are protected under the CITES that was signed in 1973 to regulate the international import and export of certain species.


title: Beluga whale

text: The isolated beluga population in the Saint Lawrence River has been legally protected since 1983. In 1988 Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada, a governmental agency that supervises national parks, implemented the Saint Lawrence Action Plan with the aim of reducing industrial contamination by 90% by 1993; as of 1992, the emissions had been reduced by 59%. The population of the St. Lawrence belugas decreased from 10,000 in 1885 to around 1,000 in the 1980 and around 900 in 2012.


title: Beluga whale

text: As of 2015, there were 33 individuals housed in managed care facilities in North America. These facilities are members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, aiming to understand the complex reproductive physiology of this species to improve their conservation. With the extreme difficulty of studying beluga whales in the wild and the lack of ability to collect biological samples or perform examinations on individuals, managed care facilities play a critical role.


title: Beluga whale

text: Managed care facilities in North America have been able to work cooperatively to build upon the research of beluga whale reproduction and have made remarkable advances. Using operant conditioning, these facilities have trained beluga whales for voluntary biological sampling and examinations. Blood, urine, and blow samples have all been collected for longitudinal hormone monitoring studies.


title: Beluga whale

text: In addition, beluga whales have undergone semen collection, body temperature data collection, reproductive tract examinations via transabdominal ultrasound, and endoscopic exams. With new technology, the reproductive characteristics of both the female and male beluga whale have been accurately described and has benefited captive breeding programs globally.


title: Beluga whale

text: As more research is done, the management of beluga whales in managed care facilities can be greatly improved and may even help develop other cetacean breeding and contraceptive programs, such as that of the bottlenose dolphin. Through fetal health and gestation monitoring, facilities can be more equipped to deal with pregnant animals as well. While training has been done to collect beluga whale semen, only few facilities have been able to successfully do so as both saltwater and urine contamination need to be avoided. Improvement of this process will help increase the success of captive breeding programs.


title: Beluga whale

text: "Pour la suite du monde", is a Canadian documentary film released in 1963 about traditional beluga hunting carried out by the inhabitants of L'Isle-aux-Coudres on the Saint Lawrence River.


title: Beluga whale

text: The children's singer Raffi released an album called "Baby Beluga" in 1980. The album starts with the sound of whales communicating, and includes songs representing the ocean and whales playing. The song "Baby Beluga" was composed after Raffi saw a recently born beluga calf in Vancouver Aquarium.


title: Beluga whale

text: The fuselage design of the Airbus Beluga, one of the world's biggest cargo planes, is very similar to that of a beluga. It was originally called the Super Transporter, but the nickname Beluga became more popular and was then officially adopted.The company paints the 2019 Beluga XL version to emphasize the plane's similarity to the Beluga whale.


title: Beluga whale

text: In the 2016 Disney/Pixar animated film "Finding Dory", the sequel to "Finding Nemo" (2003), the character Bailey is a beluga whale and its echolocation abilities are a significant part of the plot.


title: Eren Yeager

text: , named Eren Jaeger (Turkish: Eren, "Saint"; German: Jaeger/Jäger, "Hunter") in the subtitled and dubbed versions of the anime "Attack on Titan", is a fictional character and the protagonist of the "Attack on Titan" manga series created by Hajime Isayama. Eren is a teenager who swears revenge on enormous humanoid creatures known as Titans that devoured his mother and destroyed his town in the Shiganshina district in Wall Maria. In order to defeat the Titans, Eren enlists in the Military and joins the Survey Corps—an elite group of soldiers who fight Titans outside the walls and also study the physiology of Titans in order to know what they are fighting. As the story progresses, Eren gains the power of becoming a Titan later identified as . He has also appeared in other related media including anime and video games.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Isayama created Eren with the idea of a character whose fears and dreams were relatable but often clashed with his own darkness, resulting into multiple changes to his characterization. In the anime adaptation of the series, Eren has been voiced by Yūki Kaji in Japanese and Bryce Papenbrook in English. Both of these actors found difficulties in employing different types of voices based on how Eren grows up across the narrative. In the live-action film adaptations, he is portrayed by Haruma Miura & Ryota Ozawa.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Critical reception to Eren was polarized, finding him too antagonistic and harsh for his age. Positive comments focused on the character's ideals and newfound powers as a Titan as well as his character arc. Reception has become more positive in later arcs of the manga and anime as he becomes a more ambiguous rather than heroic character, evidenced in the 2021 Crunchyroll Anime Awards where Eren was nominated for "Best Protagonist" and "Best Antagonist" simultaneously, and went on to win in the latter category. Nevertheless, the character has typically proven popular within the "Attack on Titan" fanbase. His voice actors were praised for their portrayals of the character.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Author Hajime Isayama created Eren to be "an ordinary youngster who gets paralyzed with fear" when seeing a titan rather than a stereotypical hotheaded protagonist often seen in shonen manga. As a result, he was not given unit warrior talent in comparison to other members from the series. Isayama has stated that part of the reason he chose the name "Eren" for the character is because it sounds feminine, which would make it easier to remember. Isayama has stated that he has struggled in the past to make Eren feel "alive" when writing and has called the character "a slave to the story" [of Attack on Titan].


title: Eren Yeager

text: Isayama stated that Eren's wish to go outside the city's walls is similar to his own. When he was a child: He lived in a rural Japanese town surrounded by mountains. One day, he wanted to go beyond the mountains, which reflected in the town surrounded by walls in the manga where Eren lived in the series' beginning. In retrospect, Isayama believes Eren fits the type of narrative he wrote for "Attack on Titan", something that Isayama managed to relate with.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Isayama has stated he paid particular attention to Eren's eyes when designing him, in order to make him stand out from the rest of the cast. He specifically chose to give Eren thin eyebrows instead of thick ones because he felt it would be "articial" to try to use thicker eyebrows to accent Eren's angry personality. Because Eren is an energetic character, Isayama chose to give him black hair so that it would be easier to draw speed lines around him when he is moving. The character's Titan form's physique was modeled after middleweight mixed martial artist Yushin Okami. Isayama has also identified Takanori Gomi's southpaw fighting style as a model used for Eren's Titan and the way it fights. Isayama originally intended for Eren to have known all along that he was a Titan. As he looked over previous chapters of the manga, Isayama stated that Eren's fight against the Warhammer was one of his favorite scenes.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Japanese actor Yūki Kaji commented on how it was important that he should voice Eren's Titan form because he believes it is an extension of the character. He had a meal with Isayama after he visited the recording studio and the manga artist told him he found Eren quite a difficult character but complimented Kaji by saying "You know Eren already", which gave him confidence. Eren's characterization was briefly altered for the English dub of the series making him self-reflective and eloquent in some scenes. Kaji described Eren for the second season as a person who never changes despite his growth, finding this trait important for the drama. The staff and him did not want to change the way Kaji changed Eren's portrayal in the making of the second season.


title: Eren Yeager

text: English voice actor Bryce Papenbrook got excited when he got the role of Eren as he was a fan of the show before it was announced that it would be dubbed into English. As a result, he viewed this as an advantage as he managed to understand the character beforehand. For example, he could understand the delivery of several lines because he already knew of the anime's series of twists. Additionally, he saw himself prepared for the role's pressure due to his previous works in popular anime.


title: Eren Yeager

text: He was excited because Eren was different from his previous characters despite sharing a similar age and vocal range, he commented "It's a very raw sound. Some of the noises he pulled out of me were just disgusting. I loved it. I loved every second of it." Papenbrook noted how different was Eren from his previous role as noted in the delivery of emotions and notable screams. There were three different kinds of voices he used for Eren: One for his kid persona, another deeper for his young adult self and a third "which was different from anything else." He recorded all three of those, and "there were noises that were required that were just disgusting and nasty." While he saw Eren's screams as challenging, he believes it was not the most difficult he ever had.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Haruma Miura stated he was proud of portraying Eren in the live-action film, adding that he was surprised by being cast for the role. Due to the appeal of the series, Miura tried to stay true to Eren's characterization when working in the movie and hoped Asian viewers would enjoy his work. Miura found the shooting of the movie challenging including the training to move like the character. Miura aimed to show Eren's naivety traits when working in the movie.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Isayama describes Eren's personality as that of a child who uses rage as his motivation as a result of his weakness and failure to save his mother from the Titans. His retaliation against such pressures triggered all this fury, which led to a major introduction to the core of his traits. Many illustrations of him were brutal in nature due to his constant struggle against unforgiving surroundings. However, this hatred often combined with inexperience, causing him to act dangerously and recklessly charge ahead. Early in the series when Eren is revealed to be a Titan shifter, Isayama thinks he wrote him calmer than his original depiction. He did that in order to give fellow character Armin more determination as Eren relied on him in order to clear him of the military's accusation that he was an enemy to mankind.


title: Eren Yeager

text: Originally, Isayama was asked by his editor who Eren's rival in the manga was. While initially thinking about Annie, Isayama noted that there was no such rivalry between themselves and instead thought that Eren needed to overcome something to become stronger. Despite initial issues in understanding Eren, Isayama noted that the character reminded him more and more of himself afterwards, though he still found Eren hard to write. In later chapters when confronting Annie, Isayama wanted to give Eren more responsibility by making him suffer the powerlessness of his allies being killed by the traitor. Another major scene for Eren's arc involved how he realized his powers are not good due to how he was manipulated by his father Grisha and thought he should not live due to this guilt, especially when realizing he killed his own father as a child. Talking more about Eren's rivalries, Isayama instead compared him with Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars" as he finds fitting how both characters have an inner conflict with their darker personas. Isayama describes Eren's personality as an emotional complex; as his existing beliefs are gradually destroyed, Eren starts thinking about simply preserving himself as a new standard, and consequently acts on that way of thinking.


title: Eren Yeager

text: By the manga's 22nd volume, Isayama drew an image of Eren looking at the sea, something that motivated him during his childhood. However, Isayama stated that starting this moment, Eren and his friends began to mature and fill positions left behind by military superiors. Isayama said that viewing Eren as "dragged along by the story" had become the essence of his character, and that Mikasa and Armin had developed a habitual mindset of revolving around him and wishing to help him. According to Isayama, at first their mindset was favoritism, comparing Eren's relationships with Mikasa and Armin to that of helping one's relatives or siblings who are encountering hardship, even if onlookers question it. He stated that despite their similar ages, Eren, Mikasa and Armin had different states of mind and that their growth might involve their possible separation and even opposing one another. Stating that he did not see Armin and Eren being best friends forever, he further explores a personal writing style of rejecting the concept of a fated soulmate regarding Eren and Mikasa, often writing ideas about how the two would separate and respectively go through subsequent development and independence, although did not think it a necessarily good thing to portray.