Hudson Bay in Manitoba is massive, pristine, and full of wildlife.
Approximately 50,000 beluga whales spend the summer here to feed and give birth.
The Hudson Bay beluga population comprises 35% of the world’s total wild beluga population.
Belugas are very vocal whales, hence their nickname, ‘canaries of the sea.’
They respond to human singing, so I have spent time singing, “Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea,” which they seem to love. They come like puppies when I sing, and sing back under water, so I do not care how ridiculous I know I appear.
The reason these belugas are curious, friendly, and approach human beings, is because they are not hunted in this area.
They swim upside down under the zodiac checking us out. They bump your hand if you trail it in the water. You can see this one approaching the back of the zodiac for a visit.
My son went snorkeling in a dry suit with them and they came immediately to him and played all around him.
Here is the zodiac we explore the bay in and our guide, Deb, who is the best guide we have ever had.
Cheers to you from the glorious and unspoiled Hudson Bay~
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Wow. So close. Great shots. I love the top picture. The weather looks perfect.
Thank you Marie. It was an incredible experience. We are home now. I have wanted to go to Churchill forever and am so glad I did.
What an incredible experience, these are incredible creatures brought to us by your amazing photos. So good to know they are not hunted.
Whale hunting seems like a big problem to me. If it is an aspect of your historical culture, and you practice it for subsistence, in the arctic regions, more power to you. If you are an advanced society, who won’t give it up because you like the taste of whale, and justify it based on thousands of years of cultural tradition, then I would just say, evolution is supposed to be a forward path to improvement, humans are expected to evolve and change too.
That’s a very good way to explain it as a need to improve and evolution. My trip to the Azores showed that with the whale watching and then visits to the whale museum where they landed the giant bodies of these incredible creatures and hacked them to death. The factory ship is an abomination and I was hoping there would be more ‘noise’ to oppose beginning whaling again.
Factory ships are abominations. The butchery disgusting. The Azores are so incredible. We saw so many Blue Whales there with their massive spouts. So many whales in those waters and such a thrill to see them. Hunting them makes me feel unwell.
Yes, it is sickening. Environmental fights for species seem lost in all the recent clamour. There is a Spanish and Portuguese slogan: ni un grado mas, in una especia menos.
Dios bendiga a Espana y sus campeones ambientales! Ni un grado mas, in una especia menos <3 <3
Wow is what I said when i saw your photos! Wonderful !
Wow is what I said when i saw your photos! Wonderful !
So kind and so appreciated, thank you & cheers too~
Thanks!
So AMAZING, Cindy! I LOVE … “They come like puppies when I sing, and sing back under water, so I do not care how ridiculous I know I appear.” <3
Thank you for loving this. <3 This is pretty me in a heartbeat. Put me in front of any wild creature, and everything else goes away, in an instant, except them, and how intently I will watch them. And if I can sing, sound like a moron, and have belugas come to touch my hand, then unfortunately, you are going to hear me sing.
Oh, Cindy – I do miss the north.
Oh sweet lady, I do understand why. The north is just, well, there are no words…. special is overused, but I think in this situation, accurate. Really special and really unique and incredibly wonderful. But obviously so harsh, so stark, so beautiful. It is everything, right there, un-messed up. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be you who grew up there. I think it might be a true gift.
You have captured the spirit of the north. I had goosebumps when I read your words.
Ahh, love to you Rebecca. I have the greatest respect for your childhood home <3
Oh, to swim and sing with belugas – what a rare and wonderful experience that must have been! You live a charmed life, my friend! <3
I don’t really live a charmed life at all. I just focus on the good stuff. It keeps us all feeling better about the uncharmed aspects of life which we all experience. Love to you Eliza. <3
Would love to experience what you did when you sang to the whales and captured them beautifully in photographs. But I might have had to stay on the boat and just watch. They’re mesmerizing, for sure. Love this post!
On a zodiac it’s not like being on a boat. You are up close and personal, the whales will come to you, but you are dry and warm-ish. It is the arctic afterall. I think you would love it. I hope you go, and I hope you post about it.
What an amazing experience. Swimming with the Belugas would be the experience of a lifetime I imagine.
Yes. Thank you. I think it was and I am happy for Matt.
I had to look up Hudson Bay the top photo looks like a creepy film set but those Beluga are amazing. I would love to visit Canada.
You will sing there in your future, I am certain of it <3
I would be belting out the song, too! “Swim so wild and you swim so free. Heaven above and the sea below…”. A child this week told me her grandmother taught her the song over the summer. I MUST show her your photos today. They are almost magical. Thank you, Cindy!
Laughing….You know the song!!!! I love it sooo much. My niece belted it out to me when we went to a shark petting pool when she was around 3. She saw the shark and broke into song. It charmed the heck out of me and the memory still does! <3 🐋
I’m glad this made you smile and laugh. What a wonderful memory, Cindy! Of course you had to belt out the song when you saw real belugas. Wish I’d been there with you. 😍
I wish you were too! <3
🙂
What an amazing experience being able to interact with the belugas.
Yes. Definitely a lifetime top thrill. 🐋
The calling of the wild. A beautiful post.🌾
Ah, thank you very much.
Absolutely lovely post Cindy, what an amazing experience and wonderful encounter.
So thoughtful of you! You make me happy I posted. Cheers to you and thank you too 🐋
What a wonderful essay & pictures, Cindy! Particularly liked –
“They respond to human singing, so I have spent time singing, “Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea,” which they seem to love. They come like puppies when I sing, and sing back under water, so I do not care how ridiculous I know I appear.”
There’s no ridiculousness there, Cindy – just pure love ❤️
Awww, so kind and so appreciated my friend. Thank you & cheers to you 🐋
Amazing photos as always.
So happy you enjoyed them & thank you! I am a fan of your work as well <3
What a pleasure to “meet” you! I could spend a whole day looking at your amazing pictures! THANK YOU for sharing from your experience! What a blessing
Awww, lovely to meet you. This is why blogging is so wonderful, I get to meet people like you! Thank you~ <3
That’s truly amazing and makes us feel curious about being beluga whisperers
I don’t know about whisperers, but singers are definitely appreciated no matter how off key…..
Oh, Cindy, that must have been the experience of a lifetime to be so close to these magnificent creatures and have them approach you unafraid. I was so happy to hear that they are not hunted–although there was the implication that they’re hunted in other areas?
Hi Liz. Yes this has been an amazing experience and these creatures are so wonderful to interact with. It has left a powerful impression upon all of us who experience it. Wiki gives the best description of the hunting status of beluga whales. Parts of The Hudson Bay population are critically endangered. Check out:
“The native peoples of North America and Russia have hunted belugas for many centuries. They were also hunted by non-natives during the 19th century and part of the 20th century. Hunting of belugas is not controlled by the International Whaling Commission, and each country has developed its own regulations in different years. Currently some Inuit in Canada and Greenland, Alaska Native groups and Russians are allowed to hunt belugas to consume and sell; aboriginal whaling is excluded from the International Whaling Commission 1986 moratorium on hunting. The numbers have dropped substantially in Russia and Greenland, but not in Alaska and Canada. Other threats include natural predators (polar bears and killer whales), contamination of rivers (as with Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) which bioaccumulate up the food chain) and infectious diseases. The beluga was placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List in 2008 as being “near threatened”; the subpopulation from the Cook Inlet in Alaska, however, is considered critically endangered and is under the protection of the United States’ Endangered Species Act. Of seven Canadian beluga populations, those inhabiting eastern Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay and the St. Lawrence River are listed as endangered.”
Amazing. How wonderful you sang to them. As a child I used to sing to the seals, they love music too and often would follow boats which played music between the islands. xxx
Fantastic photos.
You are very kind 🐋
What a beautiful experience to have the beluga whales respond to your singing!
They are just phenomenal creatures 🐋
Joyous experience for a treasure of memories.
Yes. They will bring smiles to my face for the rest of my life 🐋
You sing to them, and they answer? How adorable is that?
They are utterly charming creatures <3 🐋
This was fascinating Cindy! Where we go in winter to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, there are whales we can see from our beach daily. Apparently that part of the bay in the Pacific is where they come to birth in winter where they are safe. So beautiful. <3
Yes. I have seen them too and it is always such a thrill. I often see them slapping their tails on the surface of the sea to scare off predators 🐋
Oh yes! Lots of tail flapping! I can’t wait to see them again this coming winter. Sadly, I just couldn’t get them in photos from my beach view, they were too quick for me. lol 😉
<3 <3
Bonjour ou bonsoir mon Ami, Amie CINDY
https://i.postimg.cc/jSLcv716/journ-e-ensoleill.gif
Je regarde souvent
En ouvrant une fenêtre, que ce soit au lever ou au coucher du soleil
Si le matin afin si une belle journée s’annonce
Et Le soir en admirant le ciel étoilé
Mais tiens ce matin
J’ai une petite pensée pour vous tous
Ceux qui peuvent lire mon petit message
Je leur dédies une belle semaine ensoleillé
Pour le soir une belle nuit de sommeil
Prenez bien soin de vous
Bisous. Bernard
Merci beaucoup mon ami Bernard.
They’re so pretty. How I would love to dive with them. Great post, Cindy.
They are beautiful aren’t they. Pure and beautiful white wonders <3
I was out of the blog for a while and I had lost your magnificent photos. It is a pleasure to enjoy the trip through your blog. Your adventure is very interesting and without a doubt makes us live it with your chronicle and your photographs.
Thank you for your thoughtful words. You make me happy I posted & welcome back <3
Bet that is music to their ears to hear you sing along with them. Incredible experience for you I’m sure to see them in their own habitat environment.
Plus they are just the most amazingly sociable, dare I say, sweet, creatures <3
Awesome photography AND it’s Canadian…what’s not to love? 😊
So thoughtful and so appreciated. Thank you and I <3 Canada to!
I agree that it’s adorable that when you sing to them, they answer. If I sang to them, they would leave the country, 🙂 Many people don’t realize that everything has feelings, everything. Even plants respond to our loving words to them. I am intrigued by these whales that I knew nothing about. Thank you so much for the beautiful photos and all the information. That’s why I keep blogging, I come here to learn as well as to try and entertain a bit. 😉
You are lovely friend Marlene. People like you are why I love blogging. Be well my friend and thank you <3
Incredible, Cindy.
Cheers to you from Columbia, South Carolina – where we have neither whales nor polar bears!! The Hudson Bay looks like we haven’t had enough time to spoil the wildlife yet, thank goodness.
Exactly, and very sad. Love to you sweet friend <3
Some beautiful and intriguing photos here, Cindy.
You are a very sweet and smart lady. Thank you & cheers <3
Wow. So fabulous!
Yes, they are wonderful creatures.
Those small water craft floating among the whales gives you a perspective on their size. -Oscar
Yes, it was just such an awesome experience. I hope they don’t start thinking all people are kind.
Belugas are my favorite whales! 😍
I know why. They are the friendliest, most playful and outgoing wild creatures. They want to play with people. Utterly charming creatures.
Yes, I figured that!
What an amazing privilege for your son to experience swimming with these beautiful gentle creatures… Beautiful 🙂
Beluga whales are very special creatures. They are so social and outgoing. It was an incredible experience to interact so closely with wild creatures.
Amazing to watch them so close. Lucky you 🙂
They are so wonderful to be around <3
Reblogged this on Echoes in the Mist.
I am grateful for all you do Sharon on behalf of our wild friends Sharon. Thank you <3
Incredible!
That is exactly what they are! Thank you.
More great photos. A beautiful place – may it stay so!
Amen to that & thank you Laura ก็็็็็็็็็็็็็ʕ•͡ᴥ•ʔ ก้้้้้้้้้้้
Wow, simply incredible, Cindy. Beautiful shots. <3
Awww, you are so nice Dorinda. Thank you.
You’re welcome 😊
<3
Oh, my grands LOVE that song! I’ll have to show your pictures to them.