Sirius
Beluga
Adopted by the employees of the ministère du Loisir, de la Chasse et de la Pêche
-
ID number
DL0090
-
Sex
Female
-
Year of birth
Before 1973
-
Known Since
1989
Distinctive traits
Sirius is difficult to recognize from the left flank, as her dorsal crest is very faint. On the right, however, her deep, irregular peduncle scar makes her easy to identify.
Life history
The first time Sirius was photographed, in 1989, she was already white. She was then at least 12 to 16 years old, and was born before 1973.
According to her habits and associations, Sirius is a female. She would be part of the female community on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.
The research team determined that Sirius is a female, as she has been spotted several times with a calf. One of the clues to determining the sex of a beluga is its association with a newborn calf. However, researchers must repeatedly observe the same adult swimming with the calf, as the young are often accompanied by different adults on the same day.
Observations history in the Estuary
Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed
Latest news
We’re off the coast of Rivière-du-Loup. We come across a group of around twenty belugas, made up of adults and juveniles. We observe Sirius swimming with another female, Conferon Connie, and a young gray. The herd is separated into several groups of two individuals, moving in line downstream. We successfully biopsy one of the individuals, which has three small notches in the dorsal crest and a small gray line on the left flank.
Sirius was last seen over a decade ago. Is she dead? Has she remained invisible to the eye of the researcher all this time? One thing’s for sure, her history remains a valuable source of information that helps us to better understand this fragile population.
Sponsor
The employees of the ministère du Loisir, de la Chasse et de la Pêche adopted Bach and Sirius (1990).