Impac

Beluga

ligne décoration

Adopted by Bourassa Gravel, Notary

  • ID number

    DL0052

  • Sex

    Unknown

  • Year of birth

    Before 1970

  • Known Since

    1986

Distinctive traits

Impac can only be recognized from the right flank, where there is a medium-sized circular scar between the dorsal crest and the head. Two small indentations stand out in its not very prominent crest.

Life history

Known since 1986, this beluga was already all white. Impac would therefore have been born before 1970.

Despite its obvious markings, Impac has been spotted very few times. The data do not allow us to determine the sex or range of Impac during the summer season.

Each time Impac was seen, it was in a different area. The social habits and preferred areas of Impac therefore remain a mystery. Male belugas occupy more of the central and downstream part of their range: the Saguenay Fjord and the head of the Laurentian Channel up to around Forestville. Females frequent upstream territories.

Observations history in the Estuary

1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed

Latest news

We see Impac among a group of a hundred or so individuals. We’re in the area around the mouth of the Saguenay. Impac is swimming with several well-known animals : Alpha, Twik, Virgule, Galubé and Vita. The mouth of the Saguenay is a meeting place! Networks of male belugas cross paths with networks of females and their young. Large herds form here, ephemerally, due to the abundance of food.

Was this Impac’s last sighting? We haven’t seen it for twenty years. Is it dead? Has it remained invisible to the researcher’s eye all this time? One thing’s for sure, its story remains a valuable source of information that helps us to better understand this fragile population.

Sponsor

Bourassa Gravel, Notary adopted Impac (1989).