Two belugas at an aquarium bob their heads up and down, shaking their blobs of forehead fat — called melons — at one another. One of five distinct melon shapes that the whales make, “shake ...

They can move their melon (the name for the bulb of fat on their heads) in many ways - from squashing it down against their skull to shaking it so it jiggles like jelly. Image source, Justin T ...

Beluga whales appear to change the shape of their heads during encounters with one another in what scientists believe is a form of ... "Melon shapes occurred 34 times more frequently during ...

In the beluga, however, the melon also seems to have another use. Belugas’ melons are strikingly large and, uniquely, they are also malleable, because belugas have facial muscles that can pull ...

Beluga whales appear to communicate by altering their head shape, according to new research. Photo from Insung Yoon, UnSplash You’ve heard of talking heads on TV.

Because the melon is made of lipids or fatty tissue, it's flexible and can change shape. That allows the beluga to make different facial expressions, reports the World Wildlife Fund .

Beluga whales appear to communicate by altering their head shape, according to new research. Photo from Insung Yoon, UnSplash You’ve heard of talking heads on TV.

Singer Adele and her son had a private meet-and-greet Monday with the Shedd Aquarium's beluga whales. Adele melon-kissed a beluga at the Shedd Aquarium - Chicago Sun-Times ...

“Beluga whales are considered unique among [toothed whales] in their ability to visibly alter the appearance of their head by changing the shape of the melon,” write the authors of the new study.

Scientists believe beluga whales make shapes with the squishy bit of fat on their foreheads to talk to each other. Sometimes called the 'canaries of the sea', belugas are known for communicating ...

Beluga whales appear to communicate by altering their head shape, according to new research. Photo from Insung Yoon, UnSplash You’ve heard of talking heads on TV.

Beluga whales appear to communicate by altering their head shape, according to new research. Photo from Insung Yoon, UnSplash You’ve heard of talking heads on TV.