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By Adelle Havard

As two of the most unique and legendary members of the monodontidae family; the narwhal and beluga whale are as precious to our understanding of natural history as they are to our grasp of our planets present condition.

You could be mistaken for thinking that these white whales were not something to shout about with their medium length bodies (in comparison to their much greater kin!), short snouts and absence of a true dorsal fin. However these oceanic stars have shining lights of their very own!

If you haven’t come across the Beluga whale before, you are in for treat…and not just a visual one. Refreshingly nicknamed as the Sea Canary by early Arctic sailors, this sociable marine mammal uses a wide range of high pitched whistles, screeches, clicks and squeaks to communicate; and according to one Japanese researcher, it’s not just to each other! It was claimed that it was possible to ‘talk’ to the beluga by attributing three distinct sounds to three objects and then playing games in identifying which went with which. Not only exercising the whales intelligence but also giving hope that one-day, humans and sea mammals might be able to exchange more valuable information.

However we must also remember that these unmistakable all-white whales (who can be heard through the hulls of ships!) do just make noise for the fun of it! As this video of a beluga back scrubbing party quite notably shows!

However weird and wonderful this sea creature may be…it definitely is a contender for being better known in fiction rather than fact!

Read the full story on the BBC Earth blog.