Adventures with Beluga Whales

" I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it"

What else is there to do on a sunny afternoon when you are done work? Well my boss thought it would be nice and fun to take the crew snorkelling after our long hard day of doing tours. So Jamie, Remi and I all got ready in our snorkelling gear which was complete with a 7mm wet suit (2 pieces) a hood, gloves, boots and goggles. Good thing the idea of the snorkelling wasn’t to move around a lot or make a fashion statement because these wetsuits were awkward and definatley not fashion worthy. After we were ready we loaded onto the zodiac that Mike would be driving and headed out into the Hudson Bay.

Me rocking the wetsuit

Jamie

Remi

Mike taught us the basics of snorkelling with future clients, lowering them into the water as well as helping them out while using the rope lope as a lever to get back onto the zodiac. We have ropes tied to the sides of the zodiacs for the snorkelers to hold onto while watching the whales. Mike helped lower us all into the cold salt water, at first it was a little shocking but I got use to the water really fast. The tide and current were really strong, so holding onto the rope was harder then I had originally thought. The visibility was amazing for viewing whales, in salt water the water is clearer and because of the colours of beluga whales they are easier to spot unlike in fresh water where the water is a bit murkier.

Me enjoying the experience

Jamie again

Remi playing in the water

The belugas were really friendly and curious this day, as I had some swimming right below me and turning their necks to really check me out. Beluga whales have amazing neck movement compared to other whales. Unlike Orcas, beluga whales don’t have to move their whole body to see you they can simply turn their neck and this is what I was seeing while snorkelling. Despite the temperature only averaging about +6 the water wasn’t too bad. The only part of me that seemed to get cold were my lips, the wet suit did a good job at keeping me warm.

Overall my experience snorkelling with belugas was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone that gets the chance to do it.

Another adventure I’ve done while in Churchill has been to go kayaking with the beluga whales. Like snorkelling being in the same water at almost the same level as these large mammals has been amazing. I was in a single kayak equipped with a paddle as well as a spray skirt to prevent my clothes from getting wet, a kayak jacket as well as a life jacket. Every kayaker that we put into the water must have a life jacket on otherwise they are unable to go. The spray skirt is only needed if you are going in the hard plastic kayaks, either the tandems or singles. The idea of the spray skirt is to not only keep you from getting wet but also allow you to escape your kayak if it should capsize.

Fortunately we’ve never had anyone capsize. However in the event that we should have a capsize or any sort of problem we always have a spotter boat in the water at all times. The zodiac is the boat we take out, however before low tide we have to anchor the boat just passed the port dock because at low tide our boats are sitting on rocks and mud. The zodiac driver usually stays at a distance unless checking up on kayakers.

The day I went out kayaking it was later in the day however that didn’t stop us from having good whales. Even though the mosquitoes were annoying I got to enjoy awesome whales and a beautiful sunset. There were a few times I was a little scared of the whales being so close to my kayak especially after I had a mother whale lift the stern of my kayak. I could hear a whale coming up behind me and the next thing I knew my stern was being lifted a few inches off the water. However as gracefully as the mother whale lifted me off the water she gently placed my stern back down. As I looked beside me the mother and her calf were swimming on their sides looking straight at me. I began to paddle as fast as I could away from them because as amazing as they were I didn’t want to be lifted off the water again.

Before my evening of kayaking ended I had a large pod of bulls coming towards me and I was able to record a bit of them. I started to get scared though as the pod started to come closer to my kayak which can be heard on my video, it's rather amusing.

As I was out on the water enjoying the amazing experience I was also able to capture some of the beautiful sunset that we had as well as getting a different view of the landscape from being so low onto the water.