Back in the early days of coal mining Canaries were kept in small cages down in the mines. Why? Canaries have a high metabolic rate. There is always a danger of methane gas explosions and poisoning; if the Canaries in their cages died it gave the men a warning that the atmosphere in the mine was no longer safe.

    Beluga Whales are known as the canaries of the sea because of their vocal abilities they were named this by the whalers of old. Belugas are giving us the same warning as the Canaries did the miners. Once numerous thriving pods of Beluga whales inhabited the St. Lawrence River. The count in 1900 was about 90,000 whales. Presently we have a number less than 4500 and diminishing. Whale carcasses washing up on the shores of the St. Lawrence must be treated as toxic waste; their tissues a cocktail of toxic chemicals. The world is our mine where do we run from here?