Churchill, Manitoba Beluga Whales

On our second day in Churchill, we were taken out on Zodiac boats to look for beluga whales. These whales spend most of the summer in the Churchill area in the waters of the Churchill River and Hudson Bay. In early September, they start to migrate north into the open waters of the Arctic. The waters in Churchill freeze, and the whales must be sure to get to open waters so they don't get trapped.

Our guides took our group out in two Zodiac boats. These are rubber type boats where you sit on the edge, which gives you a very up close view of the water. There were five people in each group, so we had plenty of room. Here's a picture of the other boat we were not in. The weather was quite nice and actually pretty warm, so we did not freeze.

As you can see, the whales come very close to the boats. Our driver, Joe, has become known as the whale whistler. He whistles and makes squeaking noises by rubbing the side of the boat. The whales are curious and friendly and come to investigate.

We were so fortunate to see hundreds of whales on this truly remarkable adventure. Our guides told us they had not been seeing many the last few days, and thought they had pretty much left. But, the whales made an appearance for us. Other members of our group went out two days later, and only saw a handful of whales. We were super lucky!!

The females tend to hang out with their babies. The larger males hang out in pods. We saw quite a large pod with at least 15 whales together. One of our group members got a picture of one of the pods from their helicopter tour. 

Adult beluga whales are very white. The younger ones are more of a gray color. Here is an adult with a young whale.

Most of the time the whales don't surface completely out of the water, and you only see their backs. They also don't flip their tales like humpbacks do. However, this guy was kind enough to stick his head out of the water and give us a smile. How cool is that!!

After another delicious lunch at the lodge, we headed out on foot to do some exploring. Churchill is not very big, so its easy to walk around the entire town. We came upon an exhibit about Churchill resident, Brian Ladoon, in one of the shops. 

Brian dedicated his life to the preservation of the endangered Canadian Eskimo dogs. Sometimes polar bears came onto his property. Instead of capturing or shooting at them, he found a way to get the bears and dogs to play together. Although controversial, this strategy worked for many years, and the dogs flourished. He died in 2018, but his legacy lives on. He was even featured in a 2015 TV series called Polar Bear Town.

This is Brian's polar bear suit. That sure looks warm. 

Polar bear research is a big part of what goes on in Churchill. Below is the Polar Bear International building. Unfortunately, they were closed while we were in town. I heard they have some interesting exhibits.

Churchill may be small and remote, but they have a lot going on. As you can see from their sign, they are the polar bear and beluga whale capitals of the world, as well as a birder's paradise and have the northern lights with 300 nights of northern lights per year.

 Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!