Beluga Whales are beautiful, yet toxic?

Rays of hope © Uri Golman

Written by Uri Golman

Since I was a child I have always been preoccupied with everything wild. I used to sit in school and daydream for hours about future adventures in the north and about the wildlife that I would see. But nothing had prepared me for the first meeting with the Beluga Whales.


The weather was grey, as we set out from the small cay at Churchill harbor. A few rays of sun came through and a cold wind was blowing from the North. I didn’t really have time to see the beauty as I was going through a final check of my underwater camera gear. As I got into the water I could feel the 2°C cold water entering the 14mm wetsuit but I knew I just had to wait it out. The water was filled with algae that was in full bloom and the visibility was low. Within a short time white shadows emerged out of nowhere and the water was filled with chirping sounds, much like you would hear in a park in springtime. Then things became quiet and suddenly without me having noticed anything a small pod of 4-5 meter long white Beluga Whales came scurrying past. The sounds came back and the water was filled with the bird chirps as a pod of maybe 50-100 whales made their way past me. I was mesmerized. Some of the whales came really close, within touching distance, and turned over to get a better look. I mean I would have been happy just to see one of them up close but that many and at that close a distance was beyond belief.

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