Antarès (1940-1994)

Our first encounter with Antarès was in 1986, when she was slightly gray and therefore at least 12 to 16 years old.

Her small size and the presence of a newborn alongside Antarès indicated that she was a female from the Saguenay community.

On July 4, 1990, we were at the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord. Antarès and the thirty or so adults accompanying her are swimming along the current bar. In fact, these belugas are chasing prey trapped in the current bar.

The mouth of the Saguenay is a meeting place! Networks of male belugas cross paths with communities of females and their young. Large aggregations are formed here, albeit ephemerally, due to the abundance of food. It’s also where the salt waters of the St. Lawrence estuary meet the brackish waters of the Saguenay fjord. Topography, currents, tides and the characteristics of the water masses that meet create highly specific oceanographic conditions that trap prey, attracting predators like belugas.