The Beacon
Baby Beluga Needs an Inuit Name
A beluga whale via wikimedia commons.
Since I missed Whale Wednesday yesterday, I'm making up for it today with an update on an adorable Canadian cetacean.
As you may or may not recall, a beluga whale was born at the Vancouver Aquarium this summer. Now she needs a name, and the aquarium is asking for submissions. Here's the rub: the name must be from the Inuit language, Inuktitut, reflecting the beluga's Arctic origins. So that means no "Britney" or "Bathsheba" submissions, people.
I just submitted "illaqtuq" which, I just learned, means "laugh." Belugas have that great high-pitched twitter, after all. And it could be shortened to "Illa." Pretty good, huh?
Grand prize is an encounter with a beluga, and you can submit until Nov. 22.
