Jaclyn Aubin

“More recent research deepened the mystery, suggesting a complex sort of sociality that defied simple categorization” writes @jaclynaubin.bsky.social - Curious? Read on!

"Belugas travel to warm, shallow estuaries to give birth and care for their young. Knowledge holders inform us that some of these estuaries have been visited by belugas for several hundred years. But not just any estuary will do!"
A summary of our new BES paper by @jaclynaubin.bsky.social 👇

We have a new paper out this week "Beluga societies: the social and cultural lives of an enigmatic odontocete" led by @jaclynaubin.bsky.social. Our collaborators @raincoast.org have made this cool video highlighting some key elements of our paper. Check it out: 👇

Do belugas have bromances?
A new scientific review by a research team including Raincoast scientists just dropped at Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, bringing together decades of research to provide the most complete picture yet of the social nature of belugas.
www.raincoast.org/2026/01/do-b...

a white beluga tail emerging from the water

We thank our partners @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social, @raincoast.org, GREMM, NSERC, and all the authors and researchers whose tireless work made this review possible!

We have a press release available for media, feel free to get in touch! #cdnmedia #press www.raincoast.org/press/cultur...

Beluga migratory routes are transmitted from mother to calf, resulting in migratory cultures shared by maternal kin. Belugas may also have dialects, a form of vocal culture, but this question requires further examination.

A figure from the paper desribing the multilevel organisation of beluga societies, from mother-calf, to group, herd, and community, and how these groups vary across seasons in terms of sexual segregation and relatedness.

We suggest that belugas live in multi-level societies, structured from mothers and calves, to groups (often fewer than 10 whales), herds (reaching hundreds), and communities (sometimes reaching thousands!)

A figure from the review that describes the relationship between fission-fusion dynamics, and the proportion of maternal kin in social groups for matrifocal and matrilineal species. Matrifocal species tend to have high fission-fusion dynamics, and low proportions of maternal kin in groups, while matrilineal groups tend to have low fission-fusion dynamics, and high proportions of maternal kin.

Female belugas are matrifocal, not matrilineal! While maternal kinship is important, females also associate with distant relatives and unrelated individuals.

Three white belugas surfacing very closely together in blue waters.

Male belugas sometimes form partnerships lasting several months, and possibly longer! It’s not yet known whether these partnerships rival the lifelong bonds seen in male bottlenose dolphin.

A white adult belugas surfacing in greenish water. A smaller, darker beluga nudges the adult's pectoral fin.

Belugas generally live in sexually-segregated societies dominated by fission-fusion dynamics. Groups tend to be fluid and ephemeral, lacking the rigid group structure seen in some other whales, like resident killer whales.

A white beluga surfacing in greenish-brown waters. Overlaid is the title of a new review published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology: Beluga Societies: the social and cultural lives of an enigmatic odontocete.

Our new review of beluga sociality and culture just dropped at Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology! Some of our key conclusions summarized 🧵
doi.org/10.1007/s002...
@marine-valeria.bsky.social @dmennill.bsky.social @raincoast.org

A line diagram illustrating how male and female beluga tails grow and change shape as they age. The female diagram shows the tail increasing in size but remaining the same shape. The male diagram below shows the tail increasing in size and becoming more convex. A scale bar shows that female tails reach a width of approximately. The figure is attributed to Vladykov (1944).

#belugafact: Did you know that tail shape can help differentiate male and female belugas?

As males mature, their tail become more curved and heart-shaped❤️, while female tails remain relatively straight at the bottom edge. Figure adapted from Vladykov (1944)

Calm greyish waters with a few white belugas backs visible at the surface and just below the surface. One white beluga tail is visible above the surface.

Counting beluga surface behaviours on the Churchill River to understand the impacts of noise!

Does underwater noise affect how often belugas show their tails when diving, a behaviour that may be linked to feeding? Excited to find out! @raincoast.org @uwindsor.bsky.social
Photo: Marie-Ana Mikus

Out on the @explore.org @polarbearsinternational.org beluga boat with Captain Tera yesterday!

Really challenging conditions but crystal-clear waters allowed for some amazing observations.

Thanks to Frontiers North Adventures, @raincoast.org and Oceans North! #BelugaResearch #adayinthefield

So thrilled to be back in Churchill, learning about beluga vocal and social behaviour. Marie-Ana and I are here for the first field season of my postdoc project in collaboration with @raincoast.org, Frontiers North Adventures, Oceans North, @uwindsor.bsky.social, and @dmennill.bsky.social

Ground nest with four eggs, hidden under blueberry bush.

The Savannah Sparrows are officially nesting on Kent Island! Our team found the first nest yesterday with 4 eggs 🥚. The happy couple is N.WB & B.RN, returning birds from 2024. Check in as we find more! @dmennill.bsky.social @ryannorrissci.bsky.social @jaclynaubin.bsky.social @nelsyninor.bsky.social

Image of LO.N in the hand (handled and banded with permits). Photo y Natalie Emerick.

Image of spectrogram of LO.N's song, recorded by Natalie Emerick in May 2025.

Meet LO.N, a male Savannah Sparrow living on Kent Island, NB, Canada. We know he hatched ~11 mon. ago, on this very island. We know his parents. We know his song. We even know the exact male he learned his song from! Can't wait to learn more about LO.N as the season continues! #longtermdata #birds

Very pleased to announce that I have successfully defended my doctoral dissertation! Huge thanks to my supervisory committee, @dmennill.bsky.social, @marine-valeria.bsky.social, @lrendell.bsky.social, Robert Michaud, Christina Semeniuk, Nigel Hussey, and Aaron Fisk! @uwindsor.bsky.social

@dmennill.bsky.social @marine-valeria.bsky.social‬ @uwindsor.bsky.social @raincoast.org @wiley.com @marinemammalogy.bsky.social

Tremendous news! Our paper "Fly with care: belugas show evasive responses to low altitude drone flights" (doi.org/10.1111/mms....) was recently recognized as a top ten most-cited article in Marine Mammal Science for 2023. Thanks to everyone who made this work possible! #TopCitedArticle