Beluga Whale Diving Trip Report
August 2018

Churchill, Canada
Beluga Whales and Polar Bears.
This trip was so so good for wildlife. One of my favorite things about Churchill is it remains wild - despite having hotels, grocery stores, and restaurants. Polar bears still occasionally roam through town. - POLAR BEARS!

How crazy amazing is that.

Churchill is the world's polar bear capital, and when you visit this place, you have to remember that. It is against the law there to lock your car doors there, just in case you have to hide from a roaming bear. The town even has polar bear police active 24-7 because of mischievous bears that sneak into town in search of scraps. 

We visited Churchill in the summer time when the beluga whales migrated through the Hudson Bay with a stop over in the Churchill river. During their annual migration, the belugas arrive in the tens of thousands to socialize, breed and pup. They are super playful, very curious, and fun to dive with. Sadly this was the final season where we were allowed to dive in the water with them.

The Canadian government decided to ban all swimming with them, and that's that. What is now allowed is water-boarding. The boats can tow a floating mat, and we can lay on it and stick our faces and cameras in the water to see the belugas. Thankfully the belugas are extremely curious and swim right up to the mats and our cameras, making for fantastic photo opportunities, especially in these rivers where the visibility is terrible. When the whales are bumping your dome port, the vis really does not matter. 

We had some amazing encounters on this trip with both the belugas and I am happy to report - polar bears. Because it was the summer time, the sun would not set until 10PM, so each day, after we were done diving with the belugas, we cleaned up at our hotel and then toured the backcountry, enjoying the beauty of Churchill and it’s amazing wildlife.

We had some amazing encounters with land wildlife. Each day, after we were done diving with the belugas, we cleaned up at our hotel and then toured the backcountry, seeking out land wildlife.

One of the local bear guides found a sleeping mom and cub. She was very tolerant of the people photographing her. Everyone stayed a safe distance from her and enjoyed this moment with a wild polar bear.

There are no real words for moments like that. It just has to be seen and felt.

On one of the evenings we all got a treat, the Aurora Borealis streaked across the sky and we went out to photograph it. It was one hell of a light show. The thing about the northern lights, to truly experience them you need to get away from the town’s light pollution. The problem is, this is polar bear country and it is nerve wrecking. So when you are out photographing the lights, you are always on the look out for bears. Scary AS… But I do admit, it is a hell of a lot of fun!

At one point in our tour, while out on the Tundra, I spotted an animal in the far distance walking in our direction. I thought it was a goat, of course there are no goats here. It turned out to be a caribou that was growing out it's antlers. They were still small, hence the confusion. It walked in close enough for a photo, and I was able to snap a few images of it before it wandered off. 

While out on the tundra, we also encountered an arctic fox, a dream animal for me. It was pretty far from us, sprinting around hunting for mice in a field, near a rocky terrain. The fox still had its summer coat, not the amazing white coat they sport in the winter time. I really want to photograph them like that. When the fox realized we were there, it sprinted up a rocky hill and laid down, trying to blend in with the surroundings. We had trouble seeing it at first, but we found him and photographed it for a while until the fox decided it had had enough of us and ran off in a direction we could not follow.

Overall the trip was terrific, I am really addicted to this part of the world.

Thanks again to our friends who joined us out there at this very special place... Churchill, the wildlife and the people are true magic!