editorial

Churchill may be the polar bear capital of the world, but for a few months every summer, the tiny town on the shores of Hudson Bay is all about beluga whales.
<figure id="attachment_145122" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145122" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-145122 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-and-iStock-Closeup.jpeg" alt="A pod of beluga whales from above; unlike other whales, belugas have flexible necks, making it possible for them to turn and look at you in an almost human-like fashion. (Courtesy of Frontiers North Adventures; Eduardo Baena/iStock)" width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-and-iStock-Closeup.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-and-iStock-Closeup-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-and-iStock-Closeup-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-and-iStock-Closeup-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145122" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: A pod of beluga whales; belugas’ flexible necks allow them to turn and look at you in an almost human-like fashion. (Photos: Frontiers North Adventures; Eduardo Baena/iStock)</figcaption></figure>
“This doesn’t happen every day!” our guide, Jeff Higdon, shouted over the roar of the Zodiac’s motor as 20 five-meter-long male beluga whales swam alongside and beneath the boat. The pod had first appeared at the mouth of the Churchill River half an hour earlier, “immediately making a beeline toward us. It was a surreal experience—our two disparate groups, humans and cetaceans, now intertwined. The belugas glided elegantly through the water, their milky-white bodies reflecting the sunlight. As they followed us, I imagined they were as captivated by the encounter as we were.
Every June, when the ice on Canada’s Hudson Bay melts away, some 60,000 belugas migrate from the open Arctic Ocean to these more hospitable waters. About 3,000 of them congregate around the Churchill River estuary, where they give birth, molt, and feed as if on a summer retreat. But this annual ritual could be under threat. A 2024 study by Spanish researchers found a strong correlation between rising sea surface temperatures and belugas’ aggregation habits, projecting that changing migration routes could lead to resource competition with other migrant species and even a drastic population depletion.
For now, the whales still gather, and the remote port town of Churchill is one of the best places to witness them. Reaching this subarctic outpost isn’t simple, though. First, visitors must fly into Winnipeg, Manitoba, before boarding a smaller plane for the two-and-a-half-hour flight north. Set on the western shores of Hudson Bay, Churchill is home to just about 900 residents. Polar bears occasionally meander into town and every winter the Northern Lights paint the night skies in neon hues.
I traveled there last July with <a href="https://frontiersnorth.com/adventures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers North Adventures</a>, which has been crafting immersive journeys into the Manitoba wilderness for more than three decades. The other guests on my trip were return visitors, so enchanted by the family-run company’s legendary polar bear tours that they had come back for the belugas. Our six-day itinerary was part of Frontiers North’s Conservation Journeys series, blending adventure with education. (As an added bonus, partial proceeds from this tour go toward supporting cetacean research at the British Columbia–based <a href="https://www.raincoast.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Raincoast Conservation Foundation</a>). Jaclyn Aubin, a Canadian whale researcher who has been studying belugas since 2017, accompanied us on the trip.
A presentation on beluga behavior kicked things off. Known as the “canaries of the sea,” belugas are remarkably vocal and social creatures. Citing her own research, Aubin explained that their contact calls act as individual or familial vocal stamps—names, essentially, in the language of whales.
Our first outing was aboard a 32-passenger tour boat explicitly designed with beluga safety in mind, with a sound-insulated engine room and jet pumps instead of props. Comforted by the knowledge that these naturally curious and playful creatures could approach the vessel without risk of injury, we watched as grayish calves swam tightly alongside their protective mothers, their goofy, bulbous heads occasionally bobbing above the surface of the water. A wave of excitement rippled through our group when the boat paused for a polar bear appearance on shore, the animal’s prideful silhouette sharp against the sun-blanched tundra.
The intimacy of the beluga encounters increased tenfold during our kayaking excursion. Paddling across the calm estuarial waters of the Churchill River, I felt a playful bump on the back of my kayak that propelled me forward a meter or so. “Be sure to paddle backward slowly,” Jeff had instructed earlier.
“That’ll attract the belugas and make them extra curious!” The whales were indeed inquisitive. Two repeatedly spy-hopped, rising vertically out of the water to get a better look at a couple in a tandem kayak. We erupted in laughter as a pair of belugas flanked another boat like friendly volunteer escorts.
<figure id="attachment_145121" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145121" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-145121 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Canada-Beluga-Whales-Frontiers-North-Adventures-Credit-Zhang-Yongpeng.jpg" alt="A Frontiers North Adventures inflatable Zodiac boat near a pod of belugas in the Churchill River. (Photo: Zhang Yongpeng)" width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145121" class="wp-caption-text">A Frontiers North Adventures inflatable Zodiac boat near a pod of belugas in the Churchill River. (Photo: Zhang Yongpeng)</figcaption></figure>
Our final water outing was aboard the aforementioned Zodiac. Twenty beluga bulls swarmed us as if synchronized, their ivory backs cresting the water in elegant arcs. Our boat driver dropped a hydrophone in the water. Suddenly, the speakers reverberated with an aquatic symphony of chirps, whistles, and clicks: the distinctive sounds of beluga chatter.
Churchill has even more to offer beyond the ocean. Aboard Frontier North’s 40-passenger Tundra Buggy—a beast custom-built for this polar bear–filled landscape—we roared across the spongy terrain, rolling effortlessly over rocks and streams. Navigating the tundra in such a powerful vehicle was a thrill, and even though no bears appeared, there was plenty of other wildlife to see: arctic terns, tundra swans, even a mother fox trailed by her kits. We stopped for lunch, surrounded by raw, unfiltered wilderness. Homemade mushroom soup, thick sandwiches, and warm chocolate-chip cookies from Churchill’s beloved <a href="https://www.goodptimes.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ptarmigan</a> café tasted even more comforting in our mobile dining room.
In the evenings, our group gathered for dinner at the <a href="https://www.tundrapub.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tundra Pub</a>, sharing stories while digging into hearty Borealis burgers and bison stew. Our camaraderie was palpable, cemented by our shared wilderness reverence and awe for the animals we witnessed together. Aubin joined us, sharing anecdotes from her research and answering my endless questions about beluga behavior and Arctic conservation.
Churchill is a destination defined by the seasons. Summer belongs to the belugas, fall brings the polar bears, and winter erupts into one of the world’s most spectacular Northern Lights displays. This year promises to be especially thrilling for aurora-chasers, with scientists predicting July will mark the peak of the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. Churchill sits directly under the Northern Hemisphere’s auroral oval where the fiercest geomagnetic activity occurs, resulting in the most dazzling viewing.
Back in the Zodiac, as the belugas swam around us, it struck me how fleeting this encounter might become as the Arctic is warming faster than nearly any other place on earth. These waters are altering, and we have yet to determine how these changes will affect this precious destination’s wilderness.
Luckily, the whales still appear every summer, a delicate reminder of our planet’s wild beauty. As we disembarked from the boat for the last time, our eyes connected with silent smiles. No words were needed as the whales had shown us an indelible connection to nature and something much more spiritual and enduring. Churchill is remote, but it’s worth every mile traveled. You don’t just witness the beluga migration in this tiny, friendly northern town—you become part of their story.
<a href="https://frontiersnorth.com/adventures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers North Adventures</a>’ Conservation Journey: Beluga Whales tours typically run in July and August, and are priced from about US$6,640 per person. Tundra Buggy day tours cost about US$195.
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March/May 2025</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“A Brush with Belugas”). Buy a single issue or subscribe <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

A Frontiers North Adventures inflatable Zodiac boat near a pod of belugas in the Churchill River. (Photo: Zhang Yongpeng)

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