. The Canadian field-naturalist. 240 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 94 â %'*,. Figure 1. Young Beluga seen in inshore waters of southern New Jersey, near Cape May. July-September 1978. Photo by Mike Horn. The whale seemed to be attracted by the sounds of the boats' engines, in particular the 40' USCG patrol boat we were on. She actu- ally seemed to be playing with us â several times she swam directly underneath us, turn- ing upside down and cruising inverted along the surface until in need of air. In early March of the following year (1979) a young Beluga, estimated length 3 m, was "e
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 240 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 94 â %'*,. Figure 1. Young Beluga seen in inshore waters of southern New Jersey, near Cape May. July-September 1978. Photo by Mike Horn. The whale seemed to be attracted by the sounds of the boats' engines, in particular the 40' USCG patrol boat we were on. She actu- ally seemed to be playing with us â several times she swam directly underneath us, turn- ing upside down and cruising inverted along the surface until in need of air. In early March of the following year (1979) a young Beluga, estimated length 3 m, was "escorted" by Coast Guard personnel through Jones Beach Inlet, Great South Bay, Long Island, New York (Jay Hyman, Larchmont, New York, personal communication). This individual (see Figure 2) reportedly approached vessels and rubbed against working nets, allowing close observation. Jay Anderson (personal communi- cation), a fisherman from Sayville, New York, saw this animal regularly for about I mo (March through April) near buoys 15, 16, and 17 in the East Channel of Great South Bay. It followed his boat as he raked clams. While the clam rake was being picked up, the Beluga followed it. It also "rooted" along the bottom after the clam rake went past and was seen to eat spider crabs (probably Lihinia sp.). Anderson pro- vided an excellent sketch of the Beluga and noted that it had markings or scars as follows: a horizontal scar on the right side midway between flippers and flukes; a vertical scar on the left side running from back to chest, just aft of the flipper; and an arrow-like mark on the left side below the hump of the back. We have attempted to match scarring patterns shown in photos of the New Jersey and Long Island whale(s) (see Fig- ures I and 2). Although there is evidence of large scarred patches in most of the pictures, we are unable to determine conclusively that the same individual has been involved in all the Please note that these ima
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