The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: July eighteenth, pursuing some great white whales.

Churchill, Manitoba is well-known for the population of polar bears which frequent the ice floes along the southern shores of Canada's Hudson Bay. Each winter, curious travelers from around the world arrive by plane, train or boat for a glimpse of the great white carnivores in their natural environment. But in recent years, summer visitors have been arriving to view other white creatures.

Beluga whales, small-toothed cetaceans named for the Russian word for "white one," average 10 to 15 feet in length. While intelligent and trainable, Belugas spend most of their lives far from shore in the high Arctic grazing under the ice fields. Beyond the fact that they're circum-polar creatures, no one is sure where they go or how they live.

Each June, some 3,500 belugas take up residence in the wide, murky mouth where the Churchill River flows into Hudson's Bay. And curious summer visitors are coming not to hunt the pale whales, but to frolic with them. Swimming with porpoises, manta rays, manatees, whales, even sharks is common fare on many nature tours, but not yet belugas. The water temperature makes wet suits essential for those who want to get out of the zodiac boats, and the visibility is limited, but snorkeling lazily downstream through an advancing pod of belugas is a rare treat. The curious, streamlined, ivory white animals emerge from the green depths, announcing their arrival with a chorus of ecolocating chirps, buzzes, and human-like tones that give belugas the nickname of "sea canary". Their Mona Lisa smiles indicate the whales enjoy these extraterrestrial encounters as much as their visitors.

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