The beluga whales are the tourist stars of Churchill – visitors can get very close to the animals on kayak tours.
Bild: Travel Manitoba
Beluga whales could become the new tourist magnet for the city of Churchill after polar bears. Nevertheless, researchers warn that beluga whales are not safe from climate impacts either.
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- On Hudson Bay in Canada, beluga whales delight locals and tourists alike.
- Since the polar bear population is declining, the beluga whales are now increasingly attracting tourists.
- To do this, the marine mammals have to survive the temperature changes on the edge of the Arctic.
Up to 4,000 white whales, also known as beluga whales, can sometimes be seen in Hudson Bay. Where the Churchill River flows into the bay, the loud, curious and playful creatures approach boats of all sizes without fear. In fact, it is difficult to find a place in the area where you don’t come across belugas, says whale biologist Valeria Vergara from the «Raincoast Conservation Foundation». At least for now.
The city of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada, would benefit if there were still so many beluga whales there. In the community, where many indigenous people live, there is a risk of a decline in the polar bear population and therefore in tourism as a result of climate change. Now beluga whales are said to be attracting tourists to Churchill. However, the prerequisite for this is that the marine mammals survive the temperature changes on the edge of the Arctic.
For Erin Greene, animals have something healing. She was attacked by a polar bear in 2013. She doesn’t want to talk about the details of the attack, but Mayor Mike Spence reports that the bear even had her in its mouth. A person from Greene’s neighborhood hit the predator with a shovel, and another person chased it away with a vehicle. Years after the attack, contact with the sociable beluga whales helped her overcome post-traumatic stress disorder, Greene says. Today she goes out on the water with a paddleboard and sings to the whales or with the animals, who make happy noises. Greene also rents paddleboards to tourists to give them the same experience.
Gives people a lot of joy
“I have never seen an animal bring so much joy to people, with the possible exception of puppies,” says Greene. «Everyone smiles when they come back from the water… Everyone just experiences joy. And it’s the whales that make it happen.”
When Greene sings for the white whales, he sings “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles, among others. But also a song from the film “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” with actor Will Ferrell, “Husavik (My Hometown)”, and the verse “Where the whales can live because they are gentle people”.
Biologist Vergara believes that the song’s line reflects reality well. “They really have characteristics that are so similar to human culture,” she says. “They form communities and networks. They cooperate and help raise their young. They have incredibly powerful voices.”
Unlike humpback whales, beluga whales’ vocalizations are not songs with a rhythm and pattern, Vergara says. The calls of the beluga whales were not reminiscent of singing, but rather of a “jungle full of birds”. The white whale is nicknamed the “canary of the sea”.
Summer trip of the belugas: For the offspring to Hudson Bay
Research shows that a beluga whale has a distinct call that it uses to communicate, similar to a nickname, Vergara says. Young animals would need a few years to learn the names of their parents and their own. Whales that are related or part of the same group have similar calls or names. Kind of like a family name, she says.
Vergara also warns about the consequences of global warming for beluga whales. “The disappearance of the ice will affect them,” she says. “We don’t know how they will react to changes in water temperature, changes in food availability, changes in the availability of normal prey.”
Danger from killer whales
White whale expert Pierre Richard from the Northern Studies Center in Churchill and marine mammal scientist Kristin Laidre from the University of Washington also warn about the danger of killer whales. Orcas that hunt beluga whales are coming to Hudson Bay more and more frequently. A decline in sea ice also means a decline in hiding places for belugas. Still, Richard said, “Whether beluga whales in Hudson Bay are suffering from these ecosystem changes is not at all clear.”
There are said to be up to 200,000 beluga whales worldwide «International Union for Conservation of Nature»which maintains a global list of endangered species, is more likely to give the all-clear when it comes to beluga whales. That’s why Vergara says she’s often asked why she doesn’t focus on animals that are in immediate danger. “I would say that the threat to animal cultures can happen faster than the extinction of an entire species.” If white whale subpopulations disappear, their culture will also be lost. “It’s like the loss of a human language or a human culture,” says Vergara. “We should think about it.”
Emaciated beluga whale gets lost in a lock in France
AP/tcar
