Beluga Whales Go Silent as First Cargo Ship Approaches Churchill Estuary

Beluga Whales Go Silent as First Cargo Ship Approaches Churchill Estuary

Every summer, thousands of beluga whales crowd into the Churchill River estuary in Manitoba, forming the largest summer aggregation of belugas anywhere on Earth. The Western Hudson Bay population returns year after year to this shallow, turbid mixing zone of fresh and salt water, where the whales whistle, click, and buzz in a constant underwater chorus. A new study has now captured that chorus in unprecedented detail, and its recordings contain …