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.