Trainer Mike Pool has a good time with new mom Crissy and her calf.It's been nine weeks since our family of beluga whales welcomed the newest addition, a beautiful baby girl. In those nine weeks, our Animal Care, Animal Training, and Education and Conservation teams have been very busy.
For the first four weeks both mom and baby were on 24 hour watch. It was a great opportunity to observe and learn about mother/calf bonding, as well as calf behavior and growth rates. She now weighs over 190 pounds, which is almost double her birth rate in just a month and a half! Our new bundle of joy is doing very well!
Where do we go from here?
We have begun the process of introducing the baby to the other belugas. It's fun to watch the others interact with her, particularly the younger ones. They often approach her with an inquisitive curiosity as if to say “Finally I'm not the smallest one!”
At this point, the baby follows her mother around and sometimes mimics her. Eventually this mimicry will be an aid to teaching her some of the same things her mother knows. We've also begun the process of getting her mom, Crissy, back into our beluga interaction program and eventually the VIVA show.
Many of our guests have asked about her name. The way we normally go about naming an animal is to have team members make suggestions and then vote on them. For this baby we decided to do it a bit differently. We made a list of name suggestions (including some that came from readers of our blog) and narrowed it down to these...
*Bella - "beautiful" in Italian. It has a nice ring to it "Bella the beluga."
*Nuka - "younger sibling" - The calf is the younger sister of another of our beluga whales, Whisper.
*Valluk - "first time" - This calf is the first beluga calf born as a result of artificial insemination.
Here's where YOU come in. We want our blog readers to choose her name. Simply let us know which name you like by clicking your response on the poll below. On Sunday August 9th, 12 midnight CT, we will tally the votes and let you know what her name is.
Hurry and vote. We are tired of calling her “Crissy's calf”! : )
Continued success and blessings,
Chuck
