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REPULSE BAY
Hunters in Repulse Bay brought muktaaq home to their community last week after landing a bowhead whale on Aug. 13.

There was muktaaq in Repulse Bay last week after hunters landed a bowhead whale. - NNSL file photo

"The muktaaq was spread out into the community," said Michel Akkuardjuk, chair of the Arviq Hunters and Trappers Organization, adding that there wasn't much muktaaq to spread around but the community was happy to have it.

It was almost eight metres long, according to Akkuardjuk, and was caught around 25 km from Repulse Bay. The last time Repulse Bay hosted the hunt was in 2010, when a 14-metre whale was caught. Each of Nunavut's three regions gets one whale per year, and the harvest rotates throughout the communities in the regions.

"Last year they hunted in Coral Harbour, so this year it's in Repulse Bay," said Akkuardjuk. The community that will host the hunt next year is not yet known.

Mark Tagornak was the hunt captain, and headed out on the water with 16 other hunters to look for bowhead whales.

"It went well. There wasn't much wind that day, and we caught it not too long," said Tagornak.

The hunters caught it with a harpoon and used spears to kill it, which was done in short order.

"It took us about, say, 15 minutes to kill it," Tagornak said

He said there wasn't a lot of muktaaq to spread between the hunters.

"I didn't get any from it, but I think most of my crew got some," he said.

Overall, the hunt was successful, according to the hunt captain.

"This is my first hunt being a captain, but I've been hunting bowhead whales - maybe this is my fourth time," said Tagornak. "Safety was my most important part, so everything went well."

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