It is roughly estimated that between 72,000 and 144,000 belugas live in Canadian waters. These animals are distributed in the western Arctic, high Arctic, eastern Arctic and in the St. Lawrence Estuary. The various populations of belugas are distinguished on the basis of their summer distribution and, for some populations, by measurable differences in genetic and chemical analyses. An aerial survey conducted in the Canadian high Arctic in August 1996 estimated that there are just over 21,000 Eastern High Arctic-Baffin Bay belugas. This Eastern High Arctic/Baffin Bay population lives in the eastern Canadian high Arctic regions of Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Peel Sound and Baffin Bay during the summer, when the water is open. In the fall, these whales migrate to wintering areas either in the North Water polynya, in the northern end of Baffin Bay, or along the west coast of Greenland.

The beluga, meaning "white whale" in Russian, is a sociable and melodic animal. Beluga whales are born with brown or slate-grey colouring and turn completely white once they reach sexual maturity. Their average birth weight is 78 kilograms, and as they grow to adult sizes, their colour changes from brown to bluish-grey, gradually lightening to white when the whales reach six years of age. Mature males weigh between 450 to 1000 kilograms, and females range from 250 to 700 kilograms. These medium-sized whales average 3.5 metres in length for females, and 3.6 to 4 metres in length for males. In the wild, belugas can live for 75 years or more. Males reach sexual maturity at 12 to 14 years, while females become sexually mature from 8 to 14 years of age.