Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 12, 2007

TUKTOYAKTUK - Many people in Tuktoyaktuk have been surprised by this year's warm weather.

"I've never seen the ocean open in November," said Paul Voudrach, chair of the Hunters and Trappers Committee.

Apparently, he's not the only one surprised.

The Beaufort Sea is home to a large population of beluga whales. For the second year in a row, some of the whales have become trapped by ice in channels near Tuktoyaktuk. - Photo courtesy of Paul Voudrach/Tuk HTC

For the second year in a row, a pod of beluga whales has become trapped near the community.

About 30 whales are stuck at Ration Bay, while 50 whales are trapped in the Saunaktuk channel.

Both channels connect to the Beaufort Sea where the beluga whales usually live.

As happened in November 2006, it appears the belugas travelled to Tuktoyaktuk seeking fish but found their return blocked by forming ice.

Now the whales are swimming in circles and breathing through increasingly small holes in the ice.

"There's about 80 whales, it could be more than that," said Voudrach on Nov. 6.

He added that belugas previously got trapped in 1989 and 1996.

While the Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans organized a harvest last year - killing 39 whales and distributing the meat to nearby communities - Voudrach said there were no plans to kill the whales yet.

"It's for the harvesters' safety. The site is still open and the currents are strong. It wouldn't be a very good hunt," he said.

In recent weeks, the local HTC and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been monitoring the whales by flying over them using helicopters.

"It's almost like we're getting a sequel to last year," Voudrach said.

But of course, not everyone thinks the situation is unusual.

"I talked to some elders, some people older than myself, and they said it's normal," said resident Daniel Loreen, adding the weather was becoming much colder .

So, according to Loreen, while there might be beluga whales trapped near Tuk for a second year in a row, it might not be as unusual as some may believe.

Meanwhile, "we're going to continue to monitor them," said Voudrach.