Belugas or white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) are sometimes called sea canaries because they make a high-pitched twittering sound. Belugas are very social and they form groups of up to 10 animals, although during the summer, they gather in the hundreds or even thousands in estuaries and shallow coastal areas. They are slow swimmers, and can dive down to 2,300 feet. The majority of belugas live in the Arctic and the seas and coasts around North America, Russia and Greenland; their worldwide population is thought to number around 150,000 individuals. They are migratory, and most belugas spend their winters around the Arctic ice cap, but when the sea ice melts in summer, they move to warmer river estuaries and coastal areas. Franco encountered a group in Russia's White Sea.

_Franco Banfi is an award-winning underwater photographer and photojournalist who makes his home in the southern part of Switzerland, in a village close to Lugano Lake. To see more of his work, visit banfi.chi. _