Amazing photos of beluga whales

Remarkable and curious underwater photos of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) as ‘stars’, have been taken in the northern Russia White Sea.

Capturing these images was not so simple. Before each dive the photographers had to create holes in the three-foot-deep ice using a hand saw, to have access to a cold, cold sea.

While divers were enjoying the company of beluga whale, someone else had to stay above the ice — and wait in the wind at temperatures of up to -30°C (!) — to make sure the ice hole didn’t freeze over and trap the underwater group. BRRR!

SB

To see the photos:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1244149/What-doing-Amazing-underwater-photos-beluga-whales-meeting-divers-Arctic-rehabilitation-farm.html

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Photo: a beluga's close approach, by Franco Banfi

For more information:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7019127/Inquisitive-beluga-whales-take-an-interest-in-scuba-divers.html