Jetstream
Beluga
Adopted by Fairmont Vancouver Airport
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ID number
DL0113
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Sex
Male
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Year of birth
Around 1980
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Known Since
1990
Distinctive traits
His large, deep notch at the end of the dorsal crest, combined with this other small notch a little further forward, represents Jetstream’s characteristic profile. The contours of this notch have gradually changed over time.
Life history
We first met Jetstream in 1990. He was slightly gray. Then, in 1994, he was perfectly white. Jetstream was therefore born in the early 1980s.
Jetstream’s sex is confirmed by genetic analysis of a biopsy taken from his back : he is male. He is part of one of two networks of males that criss-cross the Saguenay fjord and its mouth.
Jetstream belongs to one of the Saguenay male groups. When we first met him, he was almost always with the same companions: Frimas, Camério and Dance-Sea. This quartet was one of the first groups to alert researchers to clan formation in males, i.e. stable associations between individuals.
Observations history in the Estuary
Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed
Latest news
We observe Jetstream in the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord, near the Pointe-Noire observation site. He swims among a herd of some forty individuals, including a newborn calf. The whole herd climbs quietly in a straight line towards the headwaters of the fjord.
We decide to stop the boat to fly over the area using a drone, a promising new tool for whale research and conservation. In fact, drones give a research boat a wider view of a marine area, facilitate inventories and age estimates, increase the precision of the data collected, and enable the observation of little-documented behaviours in the field.
Sponsor
Fairmont Vancouver Airport adopted Jetstream (2002).