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IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR - Folks in Sachs Harbour had an unexpected feast on the Labour Day long weekend after two beluga whales were harvested right in the town's harbour.

Lawrence Amos was the first hunter to spot the whales.

Hunters in Sachs Harbour brought in a 15-foot beluga whale over the Labour Day long weekend. Shown here is Lennox Kotokak, left, hunter Lawrence Amos, Christopher Haogak, and hunter John Keogak. - photo courtesy of Beverly Amos

He wasted no time in grabbing his rifle and heading for the beach. Amos didn't even stop to call for help because he had already seen John Keogak Sr. working on his boat.

Amos said Keogak was a bit doubtful when he first reported his sighting.

"I guess he didn't believe me at the beginning but I had so much adrenaline flowing I grabbed my boat and turned it around. That was when he believed me," said Amos.

By all accounts the whales were very close to shore.

"We got it pretty quick because the water wasn't that deep. You could see it," said Keogak.

Keogak threw the harpoon and it connected on his first try. It wasn't long at all before the two men returned to shore with their catch.

Two other whalers also went out after Keogak and Amos. Lucky Pokiak and Wayne Gully also brought in a beluga.

Keogak said Pokiak and Amos are both experienced whalers. Pokiak is from Tuktoyaktuk.

The catch is unusual for Sachs Harbour. Unlike the waters off Tuktoyaktuk, Sachs Harbour does not normally have a lot of belugas swimming around nearby. Keogak said these were the first to be harvested in several years.

"We had a couple of chances a few years ago. The past two years there have been whales spotted here from the shore but when we did spot them it was too rough to go out," he said.

While Sachs Harbour residents have ventured out to sea for whales on occasion, this was the first time in living memory that whales have been taken directly in the harbour.

"I was talking to an elder the day it happened and he said he had been in Sachs for 50 years and he had never seen anyone get a whale right in the harbour," said Amos.

Once both whales were on the beach, almost everyone from the community came down to congratulate the hunters.

"Everybody went down there. It was like a big community gathering," said Angela Keogak.

With two whales brought in, there was no shortage of muktuk and meat to go around.

Amos said it feels good to know people in the community won't have to rely on pails of muktuk ordered from the mainland this winter.

"All the muktuk went to elders first and then after that everybody around town got muktuk and meat to make dry meat," he said.