Females, after they reach sexual maturity somewhere be-
tween four and seven years, give birth to one offspring, rarely twins, about once every three years. Tey live an average of 35 to 50 years, although it is believed they can live much longer. Te smallest in size of the whale populations, belugas only
grow to about 16 feet long and weigh, on average, 1,500 ki- lograms. Tey seem to delight in human contact, swimming under the Zodiacs and often raising their heads to look curi- ously at the humans inside. Tose who have seen the scant population of belugas at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River may think they wouldn’t be impressed by what they may feel is a common sight, but the impact of thousands upon thousands of these magnificent animals in Hudson Bay is very profound. You can get up close and personal with them, too. Te Lazy Bear Lodge will take you out to snorkel and swim with these fantastic creatures and they will take you on a boat tour of the hidden spots where the belugas hang out. Te Lazy Bear also offers wilderness tours by boat that will literally take you out of this world to a place time forgot.
July and August in Churchill In July, the average temperature in Churchill is 12.7°C (55°
F). Te year-round population of the town of Churchill is between 800 and 900, but those numbers swell during polar bear and beluga seasons. Te tundra is teeming with life from the tiny flowers and lichen carpeting the granite boulders and an abundance of other small animals and birds. You might see a fox or an Arctic ptarmigan. July and August in Churchill are still very good times for
birdwatchers. Over a hundred birds nest here, including the parasitic jaeger, snowy owl, tundra swan, American gold plo- ver and the gyrfalcon. History buffs will get satisfaction from visiting the excellent Eskimo Museum in the town of Churchill. It houses a per- manent collection of early Inuit carvings and other memo- rabilia – stunning representations carved in ivory and bone showing what life was like before the Arctic was invaded by moderns. Everyone has great tales to tell about the early days of the fabled Fort Prince of Wales and of Churchill itself. Buy a book or two filled with stories of the North and you’ll be hooked for a lifetime on the people you’ll meet and the adventures you’ll read about in this rugged land. And you will want to come back in mid-October to see the polar bears, whose numbers swell the population to twice its human size.
22 • Summer 2014
The Hub
Photo by Norbert Eisele-Hein.
Photo courtesy of lazy Bear lodge.
Photo by Joerg Ehrlich.
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