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rfmcdonaldWhenever we go to Niagara Falls' Marineland, I always go to see the belugas. I find them endearing, so gentle and intelligent and beautifully streamlined in their pale skin. Some of the members of this species are more accomplished than one might have reasonably expected, it turns out. This is a picture of beluga whale Xiao Qing, a beluga whale resident in Qingdao's Polar Ocean World water park, who has gained no small amount of fame for his paintings, one shown here.
Keepers at the Qingdao Polar Ocean World say Xiao Qiang started out when he simply grabbed a paint brush left behind buy a visitor and started playing with it.
Now the seven year old star's paintings are changing hands for hundreds of pounds among fans.
"He showed a lot of interest in painting right from the start so now all we have to do is give him the brushes and hold the paper while he paints with his mouth," said trainer Zhang Yong.
"His favourite colour seems to be blue and he's best of all at seascapes. His people always look like seals."
Experts say that dolphin-like Belugas - known as the sea canary because of their high pitched squeaks and twitters - have more soft tissue around their mouths than other whales which allows Xiao Qiang to manipulate a brush.
"He enjoys what he does and this turning of the head to paint is a natural movement that these whales perform in the wild when they are cleaning their food of sand," added Yong.
