Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Jul 22/98) - Longtime residents of the Keewatin agree that this year's breakup was the earliest seen in recent memory.

Arviat Mayor Peter Kritaqliluk said that the ice has left the harbour in his community for the last two years at least a week earlier than previous seasons.

"(This year) was the earliest breakup I've ever seen," he said. For the last two years we got early breakups by about a week at least."

Ice navigator Capt. Keith Jones, who has been guiding ships through Arctic waters for Northern Transportation Company Ltd. for more than three decades, agrees with the local assessment of the early break-up.

In fact, he maintained that this year brought the earliest breakup in 66 years.

The sea captain navigated the Danish tanker the Nathalie Sis, carrying part of the Keewatin fuel re-supply, into an ice-free Churchill port last week, two weeks earlier than most years.

The tanker travelled more than 4,400 nautical miles from Texas to re-supply the region.

While the tanker is ice-strengthened and able to navigate through ice conditions, Jones said that there was no ice at all.

"It was a straightforward trip," he said. "We could have come in earlier ... we had no ice at all to go around."

Jones said that the tanker arrived in Churchill early to refill the fuel tanks that had gone empty, not because of the lack of ice, but he maintains that it made their trip a lot easier and faster.

Kritaqliluk said the early breakup may have something to with milder temperatures earlier in the season.

"I don't think the winters are getting milder," he said. "In fact, this winter was one of the coldest we've had, but the weather starts to warm up earlier."

He said that the warmer temperatures also bring the geese around Arviat earlier.

"Usually the geese come in mid-May, but we started to see this year the beginning of May," he added.