Disney documentary about Norwalk, adopted by the Belugas in St. Lawrence

The story of the beluga whales adopting a narwhal on the St. Lawrence River is in a documentary produced by the giant Disney.

The documentary, titled “The Secrets of Wales”, is available on the Disney + Channel from April 22, 2021.

Produced by James Cameron (“Titanic”, “Avatar”), the documentary focuses on a number of marine mammals that do not even have an inter-ethnic adaptation story.

Since 2016, this juvenile has been spotted at the Beluga Whale Groups in Norwalk St. Lawrence waters. The Marine Mammal Research and Education Group (GREMM) has been documenting this unique story ever since it was first seen.

“Every time you see Norwal it is not alone. He is still in the group of whales in Beluga, and he has a very active social life, ”explained Mary-Ow Mల్లెlle, GREMM Communications Manager.

This Norwalk is several thousand kilometers away from its natural habitat. Norwalk usually lives in Arctic waters and is characterized by its massive horn, which can grow up to 1.5 meters in adulthood.

The fact that the Belugas allowed this Norval to unify their herd is very rare. “Cases of inter-ethnic adoption or consistent inclusion are very rare and it really shows how complex the whale community is and how rich and diverse social relationships are,” Mary said. – Eve Mల్లెller.

So Disney decided to include this story in its documentary about whales. Teams from Red Rock Films, National Geographic and Disney spent two weeks capturing Norwal and its Beluga colleagues in films over the summer of 2019. Unfortunately, finding St. Lawrence Norwall was not as easy as expected and the filmmakers had to be patient as they were able to spot it on the last day of filming.

“They were in the process of mourning Norwal and on the last day, finally, we found Norwal with them, so they had their pictures and were able to tell this story,” said Mary-Ow M ముller.

Norwall has not yet been seen in 2021, but it appeared several times last summer. GREMM is also looking for a name for this Norwall.