Page 26 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to Canada

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can be seen in Wood Buffalo National Park
in northeastern Alberta and southern
Northwest Territories, as well as Prince
Albert National Park in Saskatchewan and
Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.
It is awe-inspiring, but rare, to see an
immense herd of handsomely antlered
caribou stretching far across the tundra.
In September, visitors may view the annual
migration of one of the largest herds in the
world at Leaf River Lodge in the Northern
Québec region of Nunavik. Also in Nunavik
and available for the 2023 summer season,
the “Big Three” wildlife observation package
is offered by Inuit Adventures and includes
excursions with Inuit guides in search of
the polar bear in its natural habitat,
witnessing the great caribou migration and
encounters with small herds of muskox.
DIVING IN
The beaver, Canada’s national symbol, is an
aquatic rodent with a large paddle-shaped
tail and prized thick fur. Found in
waterways throughout Canada, beavers are
industrious, felling trees with their sharp
buckteeth and building lodges and dams.
Primarily nocturnal, they are best viewed at
dusk. One popular place to spot them is
Jacques-Cartier Park near Québec City.
CARIBOU MIGRATION, LEAF RIVER LODGE, QC • JEAN-SIMON BÉGIN
Beluga whales, not much bigger than
dolphins and white in colour, are called the
canaries of the sea for their constant
singing. Every summer about 3,000 belugas
BALD EAGLE WITH EAGLETS, BC • SHUTTERSTOCK/BIRDIEGAL
gather in the Churchill River delta in
northern Manitoba. You can get close by
boat tour and listen to them chattering via a
hydrophone. Belugas are so gentle you can
venture out on the water in kayaks for a
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Orca, a.k.a. killer whales, cruise all
oceans, but are particularly abundant
around Johnstone Strait near northeastern
Vancouver Island and in the Salish Sea near
Victoria. Extremely intelligent animals that
live in matrilineal pods, their high dorsal
fins slice elegantly through the water.
Numerous boat tours are offered. You may
also see grey whales up to 15 m (49 ft.) long,
especially around Tofino during their
migrations in March and October, as well as
dolphins, seals and sea lions.
The Atlantic coast and the St. Lawrence
River are also prime locales for whale
watching. Every summer some 12 species—
including minke, humpback, finback and
right whales—swim into the Bay of Fundy to
mate, play and feast on the bountiful food
churned up twice daily by the powerful tides.
Salmon live in both the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans and are renowned for
spawning, that is fighting their way
upstream to lay eggs and die in the same