World Oceans Day

It covers more than 2/3 of our planet and connects us all from the air we breath to the water we drink. Celebrate the world’s oceans today!

Check out our Hawaii Live Cams placed along reknowned surf breaks on Pipeline, Waimea and Turtle Bay. Watch the sunset at the Santa Monica Pier. Dive in with the belugas, penguins and tropical fish on the live cams, or check out our sea birds along the Northeast coast with Puffins and Ospreys. 

The ocean is place of zen, beauty and spirituality. What is your connection to the sea? Email us: Share@explore.org.

Float away on your Sunday afternoon and check out the Beluga Whale Live Cam in Vancouver.

captainatlantic:

Frosty Belugas at play in the ice

photo: Dafna Ben Nun

Look at that face! 

• Beluga Whales weigh between 2,000 – 3,500 pounds and grow on average to be between 10 - 15 feet long making them among the smallest of the cetacea order.
• Unlike other whales the beluga lacks a dorsal fin, but instead has a ridge where the dorsal fin would normally be located.
• They also have more flexibility in their necks as compared to most other species of whale allowing them to observe more of their environment.
• At birth they are born with either dark grey or brownish skin which fades to a white color as they reach maturity. (WhaleFacts.org) 

Check out the Explore.org Pearls of the Planet Live Cam to watch the ghosts dance underwater. 

photo credit

(We call this picture: Where’s Waldo.)

Back at the Vancouver Aquarium, these belugas are doing underwater summersaults and can be seen here on the Explore.org live cam. We love this comment from an Explore.org fan and thought it’s a good tip to share on a sleepy weekend morning: Deb S. I love to watch this cam in the early morning when the water is dark and you see a beautiful white beluga appear.

The lovely ladies you see here are: Kavna, a female, the oldest beluga at the Aquarium. She arrived from Churchill, Manitoba and is estimated to be at least 43 years old; Aurora, a female also from Manitoba, born in approximately 1987; And Aurora’s daughter Qila, born at the Aquarium on July 23, 1995 – the first beluga born in a Canadian aquarium. Her father, Nanuq, now lives at Sea World in the United States.

Some interesting facts about these ladies:

• Belugas are found in the Arctic and sub-Arctic waters of the world.
• The southernmost population lives in Canada’s St. Lawrence River estuary. They are often hard to see due to inaccessible or murky habitats. 
• Belugas have an excellent sense of hearing; their ability to echolocate appears to be even better than that of a bottlenose dolphin!
• Unlike most whales, some belugas enter rivers during the summer, and can dive to at least 800 metres.
• As much as 40 percent of a beluga’s body weight is blubber.