These playful belugas are having a whale of a time as
hundreds jump in and out of the water together.
The vast group of white whales swam and played as they took
over the water near Somerset Island, Canada.
Hundreds of the creatures, which can grow up to 18ft
long, were spotted travelling north after the ice
began to melt, feeding on cod, squid, herring and halibut along the
way.
During the winter months, the ocean surface freezes and most
of the northern belugas move south, keeping ahead of the ice cap.
They then return.
Photographer Flip Nicklin, from Hawaii, travelled to the
island to witness the annual migration of belugas.
The 64-year-old said: 'I made the special trip to Somerset
Island where the belugas feed on squid and cod and nurse their
young.
'The whales also rub themselves on the rocks in the shallow
water as part of their annual moult.
'Both males and females gather, of all ages. The smaller
grey-coloured whales are babies and they stay alongside their
mothers.'
When Mr Nicklin first heard about the annual event, he
couldn't wait to travel there to see it for himself.
He added: 'I had heard about this annual event a few years
ago and I was excited to go and see it.
'To get the aerial view, I made my way to a tall platform
that was built by a researcher for observation purposes - I had to
access it at a low tide.
'I was lucky that it was such a sunny and clear day with calm
water.
'The pictures are very special to me and they show my
favourite situation in a very special place.'
Beluga whales live only in the cold waters of the Arctic
Ocean and are regarded as threatened.
Their natural predators are orcas and polar bears, but North
American native tribes are also allowed to kill a limited
number.
The animals can live for 25 to 30 years.
The famed delicacy beluga caviar does not come from the
whales but the beluga sturgeon, which is found in the Black
Sea.
The name beluga means white in Russian.