Nicknamed “sea canaries” by whalers in the 1800s, belugas are remarkable for their extensive repertoire of vocalizations. Tour operators in Churchill equip the zodiacs with hydrophones, enabling snorkelers to listen to the belugas’ symphony of high-pitched chirps, squeals, whistles and bell-like clangs.

Belugas are the smallest of the whale species, and, unlike other whales, they can swim backwards and upside down. Equally unusual amongst whale species, their neck vertebrae are not fused, enabling great mobility — not only can belugas turn their heads to stare snorkelers directly in the eye, but they can change the shapes of their bulbous, fat-filled heads as they vocalize.

In 2008, while aboard the National Geographic Polaris, in the Galapagos Islands, Eaton was entertained, daily, by the underwater acrobatics of sea lions and penguins, as they bolted by like underwater missiles, leaving trails of bubbles in their wakes. The diversity and abundance of animal life in the Galapagos — from the barren rocky lava shores to the cold ocean waters rich in nutrients — forms a continuum that only snorkelers can experience. It’s an unique ecosystem where marine creatures are not afraid of humans, where sea turtles outnumber snorkelers, and where marine iguanas, sting rays and nurse sharks hug the rocky coastline, seeking both shelter and abundant food.

Also in 2008, while assisting the Haida Nation Fisheries Program with its fall salmon research, Eaton snorkelled the northern rivers of Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), counting wild salmon as they migrated upstream towards their ancestral spawning grounds. Called the “Galapagos of the North,” Haida Gwaii’s temperate old growth rainforests are home to unique flora and fauna that have evolved along divergent paths, due to the archipelago’s geographical isolation off the south coast of Alaska.

While visiting the Dingle Peninsula, in southern Ireland, Eaton spent a body-numbing, hour-long snorkel in the Celtic Sea with Funghi, a rogue dolphin who prefers the company of humans to his own kind. In a scene reminiscent of Monty Python’s “The Holy Grail,” she donned a poorly-fitted wetsuit, waded waist-deep into the ocean, picked up two stones, and tapped out primitive folk tunes underwater. Much to her surprise and delight — she had suspected that the locals’ suggestion of an acoustic invitation for the dolphin was a joke played regularly on tourists — “your-man-in-the-bay” Funghi surfaced out of the Dingle Harbour.

In February 2010, Eaton joins the Elysium Visual Epic Expedition, where she’ll be snorkelling in Antarctica and South Georgia. And, as far as snorkelling goes, she suspects that Antarctica is as ‘extreme’ as it gets…