General | Trip Information

Beluga Whales of Churchill, Manitoba.
Over 3,000 Beluga Whales summer in the Churchill estuary, at the southern end of Hudson Bay (a branch of the Arctic Ocean).  Belugas breed in the early Spring (April to June) before migrating to the Churchill area. Pods of whales usually first appear in the Churchill river estuary in early July. They remain here throughout the summer to give birth to their young and to feed on capelin and Lake Cisco fish. The second half of July and first half of August are generally best time for watching these beautiful and highly intelligent animals. The Beluga is the only whale with a flexible neck. (Their vertebrae remain unfused.) Sometimes, curious whales will turn and look up at you as they pass near your boat.
 
Beluga Whale Song and Language
Beluga whales are among the most vocal whales in the world, with a tonal range 12 times that of humans. Belugas were called “sea canaries” by 19th century whalers for the way they chirp and chortle among their own kind. Many beluga calls are audible to a human ear. They are also among the few cetacean species to naturally vocalize in air. Belugas make more different kinds of sounds than any species except humans, leading some of the researchers who study them to conclude that of all animals, this species is the most likely to possess a true language.
 
Your facilitator: Leesa Sklover-Filgate, Ph.D. 
Leesa Sklover-Filgate, Ph.D. is a performing songwriter/composer, vocalist, psychologist, music therapist and shamanic healer who has brought the world of “humanimal” musical communication together with song and chant honoring and influenced by Native American, Buddhist, Kundalini, Kabbalah influences. A practicing psychotherapist, Leesa is also a musician and songwriter who has produced 4 CD albums and has written an off-Broadway musical which was produced in NYC in 2005. 

As healer and musician, she combines the world of eco-psychology, spiritual psychology, music therapy, integrative/healing medicine, interspecies musical communication with whales, dolphins, birds, wolves, and her interest in helping the Belugas in Canada. Leesa has been written up in many national magazines and has presented at conferences on sound and music therapy. She brings experience communing with whales & dolphins, telepathic, non-locality research, and neuro-psychotherapy studies (creating a musical language for humans in need). She manifests the creation of sympathetic resonance in a multidimensional world.