Napou (1956-2011)

Beluga

ligne décoration

Adopted by Québec city

  • ID number

    DL0025

  • Sex

    Male

  • Year of birth

    Around 1956 (death in 2011)

  • Known Since

    1986

Distinctive traits

You have to look at Napou’s dorsal ridge to recognize him. There are numerous small notches from the beginning to the end of the ridge, allowing him to be identified from both the left and right flanks.

Life history

We first met Napou in 1986. He was completely white at the time. He was at least 12 to 16 years old.

His habits and associations suggest that Napou is a male from one of the two male networks in the Saguenay.

Napou was first observed on September 3, 1986. He was then an adult. During this encounter, the team followed his footsteps for almost three hours. He was near the coast, opposite Cap de Bon-Désir. He was accompanied by a dozen adult belugas in a herd of around 100 individuals, almost all of them adults. The team finally left Napou on Île Rouge.

Observations history in the Estuary

1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002

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

Latest news

Napou was last seen on August 16, 2002. He was in a herd of some twenty individuals near Sainte-Marguerite Bay in the Saguenay Fjord. He swims in the company of the males Walter and Le Survivant.

This is the last time we will cross Napou’s path. His carcass was found on October 9, 2011 on the shores of La Martre in Gaspésie. Post-mortem examination confirmed that it was indeed a male. He was over 55 years old and measured 4.24 m.

Sponsor

Québec city adopted Napou (1989), Bélibec (2014) and participates in the solidary adoptions of Neige, Nics, Solidaire, Bilou and Cica with other riverside municipalities of the St. Lawrence (2014).

Click on the name below to discover texts, drawings and videos composed by children of participating schools on Facebook.

Bélibec was named by the 3th grade class of the École Saint-Yves in Québec City as part of the Our Beluga’s Name is… contest.