Three magnificent photos from Andy Murch in Churchill. The Arctic tern is an amazing bird with the longest migratory path of any bird travelling pole to pole throughout the year. Watching terns scavenge capelin from the waters surface in Churchill after being churned up by feeding beluga whale pods is quite an experience. Arctic Terns are truly an opportunistic species!
Dwarf fireweed near Starvation Cove, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Mia Rachel photo.
Arctic cotton in Sylvia Grinnell Park in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Gwenyth McQuarrie photo.
Wolf pups in Alert Nunavut. Peter Gilhuly photo.
These three outstanding shots from Nunavut characterize the northern Arctic summer in Nunavut. Churchill has its fantastic beluga whale season though the further north one goes the more there is to discover across the tundra! Enjoy!
These are some of the coolest photos we have seen from the Churchill River of the beluga whales. Andy Murch from Bigfish Expeditions took these on a recent visit to Churchill. He has refined his ability to capture these animals in their natural habitat with incredible clarity. Beluga season has been revealing incredible treasures and these “canaries of the sea” are the focus of an incredible northern experience on the Hudson Bay. Enjoy!
What an incredible underwater shot from Andy Murch in Churchill just last week. Beluga season has produced some magnificent and rare images this year and this one ranks right at the top. Experiencing the beluga whales while diving or snorkeling in the Churchill River is one of the most exhilarating activities one can take in while visiting Churchill. Enjoy!
Caribou gather near Roundrock Lake west of Lac de Gras in N.W.T. Anne Gunn/COSEWIC photo.
The Canadian government will be implementing a protection plan for the threatened boreal or woodland caribou herd in the north. The decision comes three months after the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPWS) filed a judicial review application in Federal Court this past April outlining how Environment minister Catherine McKenna concealed protection plans from the public regarding the herd.
The federal plan reaffirms the jurisdiction of territorial and provincial governments over the land responsibility where the caribou naturally roam. Progress reports will be required by federal officials ensuring recovery and protection efforts are being carried out effectively. Over 80 per cent of the country’s woodland caribou herds are considered in decline.
An attorney for the CPWS, Frederic Paquin, has cited the Species at Risk Act as a reason to open the discussion to “form opinions regarding whether or not the critical habitat of the woodland caribou is being protected in a sustainable manner.” Federal government press releases have qualified the new plan as “fulfilling Canada’s commitments under the federal Species at Risk Act.”
Environmental activists are skeptical of the scope of the new plan in informing Canadians what the federal government is doing toward conserving the various caribou herds in a timely and comprehensive manner.
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society emphatically states that it will continue pushing for transparency from Environment Canada through legal action even after government action.
CPWS biologist Alain Branchaud, states Minister McKenna is required to report on which herds remain unprotected and what actions are being taken to preserve the caribou herds. Branchaud does not believe the outlined government plan successfully does what is needed for complete protection.
Young traveler in the bow of a Sea North Tours beluga watching zodiac. Sea North Tours photo.
This young excited traveler to Churchill is getting a private view from Sea North Tours’ exclusive zodiac voyage into the Churchill River searching for beluga whales and enjoying the wide open spaces of the Churchill region. Enjoy!
