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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-chatty-beluga-families-migrate-with-these-stunning-live-cams-in-canada-180984720/>
"Here’s a summer “staycation” idea: From the comfort of your own home, you can
watch—and listen to—tens of thousands of beluga whales as they make their
annual migration to Hudson Bay and the Churchill River in Canada.
Polar Bears International and Explore.org are once again offering their popular
beluga whale live cams, which capture these chatty, melon-headed marine mammals
in all their glory. The live streams launched Monday on Arctic Sea Ice Day—a
holiday that aims to promote awareness about the importance of sea ice, which
is declining amid human-caused climate change. Hudson Bay saw record low levels
of sea ice this spring.
From now through late August, scientists aboard a special “beluga boat” named
Delphi will be exploring the Churchill River. For roughly four hours daily,
Monday through Friday, they’ll capture video footage and sound recordings of
belugas as they swim, communicate, raise their young and enjoy the relative
safety from predators like orcas.
The vessel is equipped with two cameras—one that’s underwater and one that’s
located on-deck—to offer different perspectives of the belugas’ summer vacation
destination. The ship also has a hydrophone to record the belugas’ various
chirps, whistles, squeaks and other sounds that have earned them the nickname
“canaries of the sea.”
“You’ll see all these family pods swimming amongst each other,” says Alysa
McCall, staff scientist and director of conservation outreach for Polar Bears
International, to
Popular Science’s Laura Baisas. “They like to follow the
boat in the wake. We go super slow, and the belugas will just kind of tag
along, and they like to go in front of a camera. They bring their babies up to
the camera and they just talk all day.”
Even when the live streams aren’t rolling, you can still watch archival footage
of these sleek swimmers—including highlight reels from years past."
Via Susan ****
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
