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!
Sea North Tours operates fantastic beluga whale watching trips on the Churchill River and Hudson Bay for groups like Natural Habitat Adventures. Their small group format allows travelers to get up close and personal with the belugas and other wildlife. The Sea North 2 carries 30 or so passengers and gives photographers a different vantage point from above the water while the Italian – made zodiacs can approach the whales within touching distance. Belugas enjoy following the slipstream from the zodiac’s outboard motor and sometimes three or four at a time troll behind in the bubbly wake. Every day on the water in Churchill is a different experience. Stay tuned for more unique wildlife photos from Sea North Tours!
Beluga underwater in the Churchill River. Sea North Tours photo.
Beluga whales at the bow in Churchill on the water. Sea North Tours photo.
The Sea North 2 watching a pod of beluga whales on the Hudson Bay. Sea North Tours photo.
Sea North Tours zodiac on the Churchill River by the Port of Churchill. Sea North Tours photo.
Dorota Walkoski of Great White Bear Tours captured this harbinger of spring image in Churchill. Caribou, snow geese and Canada geese fill the landscape and feed on the bounty which the north provides this time of year! Bountiful Churchill summer will be upon us soon and avid explorers will flock to town for birding excursions, beluga whale charters and tundra exploring in search of fox, polar bears, Arctic hare and even wolves. This summer on the Hudson Bay is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in recent years. Stay posted for all the news and photos from the north!
Churchill photographer and guide Alex De Vries – Magnifico captured this rare shot of a polar bear and beluga whales in the same frame. As a Churchill Arctic Summer guide for Natural Habitat Adventures for over a decade, I only encountered a polar bear in the water a few times. Of those amazing encounters I never was able to frame a photo with both animals in the shot.
This sequence is rare since polar bears have little chance of catching a beluga whale in the open water. There have been some reports of polar bears nabbing a whale in the shallows when unsuspecting belugas venture too close to the shoreline. Most of the whale carcasses with polar bears scavenging seen in photos are whales that have beached from sickness resulting in death.
Alex, working as a guide for Sea North Tours, has access to incredible interactions while driving a zodiac on whale watching groups on the Churchill River and out in the Hudson Bay. When something as rare as this occurs very few have the ability to get the shot. Alex reacted and definitely nailed an fantastic image. Enjoy!
A polar bear swims towards beluga whales in the Churchill River. Alex De Vries – Magnifico photo.
Tiffany Spence in Churchill took this spectacular underwater beluga whale video and the crystal clear water gives us a perfect view of the milky white mammals. This is the time to get in the water with these beautiful animals and see what it feels like to be an Arctic whale. Snorkeling with the belugas is a once in – a – lifetime experience that will stay with you forever!
