Shimane: Beluga Whales Spin, Blow Bubbles on Audience Signals at Aquarium

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:28 JST, January 31, 2026

HAMADA, Shimane — An aquarium in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture, has launched a new event where visitors can interact with beluga whales.

Shimane Aquarium Aquas is known for its popular “bubble rings,” or rings of air bubbles that belugas create underwater. The new audience-participation performance involves a beluga whale responding to audience signals through the glass — rather than signals from divers — by spinning or moving its head. The aquarium’s beluga whales have been practicing since around autumn 2023.

On the first day of the new performance, Jan. 14, with about 30 spectators watching, a 6-year-old child from Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, selected by staff from the audience, went to the front of the pool. When the child clapped, the beluga whales spun. When all the spectators sent signals together, the beluga whales produced a ring of bubbles underwater.

The aquarium plans to hold such events once a day until the end of February.