Piccolo
Beluga
Adopted by Fairmont Chateau Whistler
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ID number
DL0112
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Sex
Male
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Year of birth
Around 1981
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Known Since
1988
Distinctive traits
To recognize Piccolo, focus on the details of his dorsal crest, a notch in the middle, followed by two small protrusions and a long plateau. He also has a small gray patch on his left flank.
Life history
When we first met him in 1988, Piccolo was slightly gray. He turned white around 1995. He was born around 1981.
His large size and his habits lead us to believe beyond any doubt that he is a male. His frequent visits suggest that he belongs to one of the two networks of males in the Saguenay Fjord and its mouth.
Piccolo has often been observed in the downstream part of the estuary. He is regularly found in the Laurentian Channel area, off Les Bergeronnes and cap de Bon-Désir. Like the other males in the population, Piccolo is often spotted during the summer season in bands composed mainly of males. Occasionally, these bands join with flocks of juveniles or females accompanied by juveniles to form large mixed flocks.
Observations history in the Estuary
Years in which the animal was not observed Years in which the animal was observed
Latest news
Piccolo swims among a flock of some sixty individuals in the Saguenay Fjord. The group seems to be mainly made up of adults examining our boat, but we observe a few young grays. Finally, the animals were confined to the mouth of the Saguenay.
We haven’t seen Piccolo since this observation. Is he dead? Has he remained invisible to the researcher’s eye all this time? One thing is certain, his story remains a valuable source of information for our knowledge of this fragile population.
Sponsor
Fairmont Chateau Whistler adopted Piccolo (1999).