Orca Fins in Hudson Bay off the coast of Churchill, Manitoba

The new Churchill Northern Studies Centre building was officially opened in August 2011. Its inaugural conference celebrated the thirty-year research legacy of Professor Bob Jefferies. Explore his, his students’ and colleagues’ research at Wapusk National Park and the Churchill area in the Robert Lenthall Jefferies Researcher Spotlight collection in Yorkspace.

Since many delegates were returning to Churchill for the first time since they had done their field research here, we also organized conference field trips.

During a zodiac trip to see beluga whales, Dawn Bazely spotted a pod of orcas or killer whales. Their fins could be clearly seen, swimming in the cold water of Hudson Bay, towards belugas feeding in the mouth of the Churchill River.

York University Professors Dawn Bazely (Biology) and Steve Alsop (Education) brought the Churchill Community of Knowledge Digital Archive back to Churchill in October 2019, including to the Duke of Marlborough School. Grade 5-9 students helped to describe this image and to create its Metadata. One student, memorably, used the phrase “Death to Belugas” to describe this photo! Other keywords that they created were: fins, deep water, cold water, orcas, swimming, and Hudson Bay.