Name the Baby Beluga

One-of-a-kind contest opportunity to find the perfect baby beluga name

Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Aquarium invites you to help name our baby beluga!

Canadians are invited to submit a name suggestion at visitvanaqua.org from November 9 to 22. The name should reflect the Arctic origin of beluga whales and honour Inuit culture and language.

A judging panel will shortlist five name suggestions, then Aquarium members will have the unique chance to vote on their favourite. On December 2nd, the Vancouver Aquarium announce the name of the baby beluga! To get in on the voting action, please contact membership@vanaqua.org or call 604-659-3526.

The lucky person who suggests the winning name wins the grand prize: A one-of-a-kind baby beluga encounter, plus an annual family membership to the Vancouver Aquarium and a $200 gift certificate for the Gift Shop at the Aquarium. Four secondary prizes including family memberships or animal encounters will be awarded to the remaining shortlisted entries.

The best way to choose a name is to get to know the baby beluga – see her anytime on the Aquarium’s 24-hour Beluga Cam at http://www.vanaqua.org/belugacam. We’ve also created an amazing video of the baby beluga’s life so far to help you get to know her. You’ll find that video on our Name The Baby Beluga contest page at visitvanaqua.org

To get you started, here is some background on the Aquarium’s other belugas:

“¢ Aurora, the baby beluga’s mother, is named after the aurora borealis, the famous northern lights of her native Arctic.

“¢ Imaq (EE-mak), the baby beluga daddy, means “the sea” in Inuktitut.

“¢ Qila (KEE-lah) is short for qilalugaq qualuqtaq meaning “beluga” in Inuktitut.

Our newest baby beluga came into this world on June 7, 2009 at 3:39pm. Her mother is the Aquarium’s 21-year-old beluga Aurora. They live in the Canada’s Arctic habitat with two other belugas, 14-year-old Qila and 1-year-old Tiqa.