Beluga Cam Captain Hayley Shephard describes what it feels like to be surrounded by a large pod of these playful and curious whales.
“Times are changing out here in the Churchill Estuary as we drift towards the end of August. The Arctic Terns are no longer fishing and the Belugas are back in full force after a few days when they seemed somewhat scarce, perhaps spending more time deeper up river or out in the Hudson Bay. The last five days they have been abundant. From the minute I am on the water until the moment I head to shore, I am in the company of these curious whales and the majority of the time they are literally beside me.
Yesterday we experienced a pontoon party. I felt like the Pied Piper of Hamelin as twenty or more whales glued themselves to the sides of my boat, regularly making contact with the inflatable pontoons. On occasion I felt a nudge and from where I sat I could have reached out and touched a large male as he glided beside me, his head below mine as he lingered close to the surface.
The snapshots, like the featured one above, by our talented viewers display the numerous whales that follow my boat for the entire four hours I am on the water. It really is quite something when a large pod surrounds you, then synchronizes their arrival towards the surface, releasing their breath in sync with each other, then all together approach the underwater camera. Close together they investigate this object, not realizing their faces are being viewed by people from all over the world. I find myself holding my breath during these moments, as though frozen in a dream. But it is real, it is truly real and I am living it, here with the Belugas in the Churchill Estuary.”
