Animal Tales

The Arctic’s beluga whales are so vocal they’ve been nicknamed the “canaries of the sea,” producing a dazzling variety of clicks, whistles and squeals that echo through icy waters. Yet despite their unforgettable calls and striking white appearance, no one knows precisely how many of these unusual marine mammals still exist, because their remote, shifting Arctic habitat makes them extraordinarily difficult to study. Researchers have especially tried to track the numbers and movements of the beluga population around the St. Lawrence River and nearby Arctic waters, where changing ice and increasing human impacts have added to the challenge of understanding their future.

In The Mystery of the Belugas, scientists and field biologists embark on expeditions into frigid seas to listen, observe and learn more about these elusive whales. Combining cutting-edge acoustic tracking, aerial surveys, and firsthand encounters with pods under the ice, the episode unravels how belugas communicate, migrate, and survive in one of Earth’s harshest environments, and why preserving their vocal culture and habitat is critical as the Arctic changes more rapidly than anywhere else on the planet.