Beluga Whale Trip Report 2024 ( Trip 1 )

Churchill, Canada
July 27 - August 2, 2024

 July 28, 2024. Day One. The day was cold, windy, overcast, and fog was slowly rolling in. It was not a fun day to be out at sea.

But we ventured out in hopes of finding some belugas to encounter. We didn’t see many belugas; most of them were either deep in the river or out in the bay. Unfortunately, the swells in the bay were too much for our boat to comfortably handle.

There were hundreds of belugas around, but they were scattered far and wide.

The swells in the bay were also too rough for us to try beluga boarding as well.

So we decided to just go and try to see the bear and then head back into the river.

We headed to the point to see if the bear Kenny and I saw yesterday was still there. She was.

Our captain, Jeremy, tried to get close to her, but it was too rough, and we were getting tossed around by the swells. So we snapped a few difficult shots. It was challenging to focus on the bear due to the boat's movements. I managed to get a few proof of life shots.

After the bear sighting, we went back into the river to try and find some belugas. We found a few and tried a couple of jumps, but the belugas were not interested today and the conditions were horrible, so I suggested we head in and save the boat time for another day.

The weather is supposed to improve this week, so if we have great weather and cooperative belugas, I would rather stay out longer when we can.

So we called it a day. Tomorrow should be better.

This afternoon, I picked up the rental van, so now we have wheels. Before dinner, we drove around town to see if we might find some red foxes. There are a few that live in the area, and I was hoping we would find them for our friends.

Summer is a more challenging time to search for foxes as the vegetation is lush and thick, providing plenty of hiding places.

On our way to the restaurant, we encountered a sandhill crane by the road. I think this is the largest North American bird, so it was pretty cool to see. We pulled over to snap a few shots. After that, we returned the cameras to the room and went to dinner.

Can’t wait for tomorrow!

July 29, 2024 - Day Two. Out on the water looking for belugas. Shane Gross is my captain. I haven’t seen him in years—still a super nice dude.

We went deeper into the river to look for whales but found nothing. When we arrived in the area, the whales were hunting and wanted nothing to do with us.

It seemed like all the whales in the river were hunting and completely ignored us. So we decided to try our luck in the bay.

Yesterday the bay was churned up, so I thought it would be the same today. It was not. It was beautiful. I was concerned it would be choppy and foggy again, so I left my topside camera in the room. HUGE mistake.

We went to the mouth of the river in the bay and finally found a few whales. Nothing too exciting.

Captain Shane and I noticed a weird-looking beluga whale swimming towards us in the distance, about 70 yards away. We soon realized it was a polar bear!

We had Tatiana and Christine on the floating mat and told them to get back on the boat. We were yelling, "Bear!" They didn’t quite understand us at first, but after a couple of tries, they finally got it, and we got them back in the boat.

We picked up the mat and then followed the bear for a while. It had changed course and was now swimming away from us.

We snapped a few images of the bear and then left it alone to swim back to land. The bear was returning from the sea ice. They had a great season this year; the sea ice is melting late. So the bears are super fat and happy.

We continued our search for belugas and thankfully found a great pod.

Plus, the sun came out! The overcast sky cleared, and the sun and blue skies remained.

The pod of belugas was amazing. It was a group of males, and they were extremely curious, staying around us for a long time. Our guests had many great moments and memories, and I was very happy… Magic happened on day two!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a warm, beautiful day. I can’t wait to see what we find!

July 30, 2024. Day Three. We had a really good day. We found a pod of very friendly beluga whales. It was a bachelor pod of belugas and these guys were total players. We didn’t spend a lot of time with them because we found them at the end of the day. But the time we did manage to spend with them was really good.

We also had a great encounter with a polar bear that was walking around at the point. The bear was trying to find a good spot to nap, but the Arctic terns were making life hell for him. They kept dive bombing on him and he did his best to hide from them, but it was tough. Those birds are so aggressive.

Over all a great day in the water.

July 31, 2024

Today was the stuff that dreams are made of!

We motored out to beautiful, flat, calm seas. The activity in the river was very slow, so we decided to venture out into Hudson Bay and see what we could find. We traveled far, and thankfully the plan worked out—we had the best day of the trip.

And…it was my best experience with beluga whales ever. A total dream.

When we arrived in the area, we found a small pod of belugas acting a bit strangely. One of them was swimming around as if something was wrong. It turned out that one of the belugas was carrying a dead baby whale in her mouth. She was bringing it to the surface with her, and we could see that it was a newborn, freshly dead.

The other whales were comforting her and guarding the baby as if it were still alive. It was heartbreaking to witness this behavior.

After that, we motored out a bit further and encountered a bachelor pod of belugas that were in a very playful mood.

There were about 15 of them, and they formed a tight circle and began to play-fight—rolling, tail-slapping, and biting each other. It was awesome to witness this pod of whales with their own version of fight club going on.

After the fighting stopped, they began to swim circles around our boat, and they did this for over two hours. It was one of the most exciting things I have ever witnessed. True magic!

We spent so much time with these whales. It was easily one of the best days of my wildlife career.

This is the highlight of the trip… I mean, how are we ever going to top this?
Lets see what tomorrow brings.

August 1, 2024 - Day Five: Final Day

The day started with some confusion. We had reports of thunderstorms, but the morning greeted us with plenty of sunshine. Unfortunately, that didn't last. As we headed out onto the water, the sky began to change. The sun disappeared behind ominous dark clouds, and we ventured into the Bay, only to find it eerily empty—the belugas were all gone.

We weren't disappointed, especially after the incredible experience we had yesterday. We thought nothing could top that.

But thankfully, we were wrong!

Captain Shane radioed to check if there were any belugas up the river. There were, so we turned back and found a massive feeding aggregation of over a hundred whales, all gathered together. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

The water visibility was excellent, and it felt like the stars were aligning. My excitement for adventure surged again, and I eagerly anticipated what the day might bring.

But then, in the distance, lightning struck, forcing us to call it a day.

Despite the abrupt end, it was an amazing week of wildlife. I absolutely love Churchill—it's such a special place. The wildlife, the people, the land—it's so raw and one of the last wild frontiers in our modern world.

I hope it stays this way forever.

A big thank you to our wonderful hosts, my friends, and of course, the animals.

This week was pure magic!

Interested in joining us next season?

Visit our trip page to learn more.