Our big day off. We left the Center and headed to town to see the sights. We shopped in the stores that were open and walked around to see what the little town of Churchill had to offer. I bought a baseball cap that says, Churchill Canada, Polar Bear Capital of the World. It is also considered to be the Beluga Whale Capital, since they get so many of them coming to give birth.
Before the boat ride we rode around the town and went to the beach. It was low tide and you could see rocks everywhere. I found some little animals in the tide pools, but not many. We climbed up on the wall by the Bay and saw whales everywhere. It was fun to watch them. We didn't know at the time that we would be right on top of them in a couple of hours.
They have an Eskimo museum in Churchill. When the people from the northern provinces used to get sick they would come to Churchill for medical attention. While they were there they would make carvings of their way of life and sell them to the museum. To say they are fabulous would be an understatement. The museum is full of artifacts about the Eskimo way of life. Very interesting.
Then off to the whale watch boat ride.Whale watching here is different from CA. Here we go on Zodiac's. These are inflatable rubber boats that you sit up on. Imagine a huge inner tube and see yourself sitting on it going up the river. That's what we did. Mary Lou had never been in a boat, much less a Zodiac, and she was scared. Of course as soon as she saw the first whale her fear went away, to return as soon as we started back and there were no more whales to watch.
They had microphones in the water and we could hear the whales. They were clicking and chirping to each other. Beluga's are called the canaries of the sea, because they are always singing to each other.
Again after dinner we went for a ride with Dr. Kershaw and this time we saw a mother bear and 2 cubs. They were headed away from us and were about 3/4 of a mile away. It was great fun to look at them.
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