Canada operates on a grand scale and so does its wildlife, with nature embracing you in a giant bear hug the minute you set foot outside of its cities. You can barely dip a toe into this country’s gargantuan forests, lakes and oceans without returning home with never-to-be-forgotten wildlife stories, be it snorkelling with belugas or encountering rare spirit bears.
Snorkel with belugas
Where: Churchill, Hudson Bay, Manitoba
When: June-August
Few moments are as spine-tingling as swimming within a hair’s breadth of ghost-white belugas on the Manitoba side of Hudson Bay, but be prepared to sing first. Nicknamed ‘sea canaries’ because of their cheerful high-pitched chirps, clicks and squeaks, these curious creatures turn up in their thousands when the pack ice breaks in summer. They often hover within a foot or two of snorkelers to serenade and converse with them. Churchill is also one of the world’s polar bear hotspots. Mellower in summer, these cuddly-looking predators can be spotted chilling on the tundra.
Swim the salmon run
Where: Campbell River, Vancouver Island
When: late July-October
Summer rush hour in Vancouver Island’s Campbell River and the water is bumper-to-bumper with pink, coho, chinook and sockeye salmon, as thousands dash upstream to their spawning ground. Swimming with them is thrilling beyond belief. Kitted out in a mask, neoprene suit and flippers, trust the current of this turbulent, numbingly cold river to carry you along, eyeballing some of the world’s biggest salmon as they flash past like silver darts.
Go on a moose safari
Where: Forêt Montmorency, Quebec
When: September-early November
Goofy, oafish and crowned by a whopping pair of antlers, moose are every inch the cartoon animal. For an inkling of quite how ginormous they are, spot them on a dusk or dawn moose safari in the Forêt Montmorency, a vast sweep of boreal forest 45 miles north of Quebec City. Primetime viewing is the rutting season, when the males go all out to impress the ladies with displays of antler-clashing bravado. Timber wolves, black bears, beavers, otters, porcupines, foxes and 140 species of bird share their wild backyard.
Gawp at red-sided garter snake dens, Manitoba
Where: Narcisse Snake Pits, Manitoba
When: late April-early May; early September
The biggest snake orgy on earth either fills you with fascination or Room 101 horror. If it’s the former, head to Narcisse in Manitoba to witness the world’s largest snake gathering, when tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes slither up from their winter dens in the limestone crevices. As the females emerge, the males pounce, creating a seething, writhing ball of frenziedly mating snakes that is one of nature’s great spectacles. If you can’t get there in spring, there’s more action during pre-denning in the fall.
Spying puffins
Where: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
When: early May-late August
Flapping up to 400 times per minute to become airborne, puffins are dinky, white-bellied birds that look as though they’ve had the wrong batteries inserted. Whether bobbing in the Atlantic or hanging out on rocky headlands swooping down to thrashing ocean, they are the summer stars of Cape Breton Island boat tours. Dangling off Nova Scotia’s east coast, this rugged green island is wildlife nirvana, home to bald eagles, kittiwakes, black guillemots, grey seals, leatherback turtles, white-sided dolphins and, from May to October, pods of minke, fin, humpback and pilot whales.
Seeking out the spirit bear
Where: Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia
When: May-October
It’s impossible to be blase about grizzlies and black bears, but in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, all eyes are on an even greater prize - the elusive kermode or spirit bear. The indigenous First Nations people revere the bear and glimpsing one on a tour is a spirit-lifting moment indeed. Riven with fjords and topped by glacier-capped mountains, this isolated expanse of coastal temperate rainforest is sprinkled with other show-stopping wildlife - humpbacks, grey wolves and sea otters included.
To find out more about wildlife in Canada and book your visit, go to keepexploring.co.uk
