The Hudson Bay Line is still in limbo with the Port of Churchill still up for sale by Omnitrax. This video was earlier in the discovery process of just what the next steps should be to repair and reinstate train service to Churchill. Churchill residents and town officials are getting fed up with the same old rhetoric they are being fed from Omnitrax and the Canadian Government! We’re hoping for a speedy resolution to the crisis.
This throwback video features the original Sea North Tours founder MIke Macri and his thoughts on the majestic beluga whales of the Churchill estuaries. Mike has since sold Sea North and is “gone fishin” after decades of running the best beluga whale watching outfit in Churchill. I’ve spent many summers with Mike and his family and they are truly missed in the Churchill community. However, thousands of belugas are still returning to Churchill every summer and after interpreting their sounds via a hydrophone, they all miss Mike and the family as well!
Here are two video cam views into the lives of the beluga whales in Churchill, which by all accounts seem to be very different worlds indeed. Life below the surface of the Churchill River and the Hudson Bay is serene and a cacophony of communication between the whales all at once. Above the surface, whales feed and glide through the water while often investigating whale watching zodiacs. The mammals come close to the vessels and ride in the slipstream of bubbles flowing from the engines. The two worlds of the beluga whales merge together and provide travelers one of the most incredible wildlife experiences on Earth!
Quite beautiful footage of Arctic wildlife, especially a polar bear family in the pristine environs of Wapusk National Park near Churchill. Rarely captured the interactions between a mother and her two cubs in snowy Wapusk. Photographers venture from all across the world to spend a limited time in Wapusk Park in northern Manitoba to capture epic and intimate images of the King of the Arctic! Enjoy!
On the surface this photo crew from National Geographic is searching out the King of the Arctic for conservation reasons. The end message states they got an “impactful” shot. Really, the only impactful thing done here was harassing a polar bear on a remote island in Franz Josef Land by flying a drone closely overhead of the bear in the name of conservation and attempt to get a stellar photo. The setting points to intentionally drawing the polar bear to the fixed cameras left on the beach as the groups shoves off shore from the beach. Well…as long as you got the shot, right?
Even the title of the video is misleading and sheds a bad light on polar bears, inferring that the bear charged the crew for no reason. Although the interaction is thrilling to the viewer when photographers approach wild animals like polar bears, especially those that have possibly had no human contact, it’s essential to treat them with respect and stay away so the interaction does not influence the behavior of the animal in any way. Not doing this is selfish and harmful to our wild ecosystems. Let’s hope most photographers follow this credo.
Enjoy this awesome short video from National Geographic with interesting facts about majestic Beluga Whales and their environment. Churchill Summer travelers are currently experiencing these magnificent animals right now in the Churchill River and Hudson Bay. We will be posting updates, photos and videos from Churchill periodically as the summer progresses. Stay tuned for all the exciting news from the “beluga capital of the world”!
