Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

WHALE COVE (Jul 29/98) - Harry Gibbons won't soon forget the sight of a two-metre-tall grizzly bear peering at him through a window at the Whale Cove airport terminal last week.

The CARS operator said the young grizzly had been looking for food in a small garbage can prior to stepping onto it to look into the terminal building, about 11 kilometres northwest of the community.

"I thought it was trying to get in, so I ran into my office which has a steel door," he said. "It tried to push the door (of the building) open, but it didn't budge."

Gibbons, who's never seen a grizzly come so close to Whale Cove, said he was trapped inside without a weapon while the bear went from the window to the door to the airport truck parked next to the building.

"I was scared -- I couldn't do anything," he said. "I had no rifle, so I called the hamlet. I couldn't go out and get away from this place because it was trying to get on the truck."

Gibbons had no choice but to wait inside, hoping the bear wouldn't get in, until several hamlet employees armed with rifles arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m.

"The hamlet administrator shot a few rounds up in the air, but it didn't do anything," he said.

Hamlet senior administrator Terry Rogers said that the gun didn't scare the animal. "When I pulled up 100 feet (30 metres) away from it, it just stood up on its hind legs and just looked at me," he said. When the bear was still hanging around the building half an hour later, the decision was made to shoot it.

"It was a little too friendly," said Rogers.

After they received permission from wildlife officials in Rankin Inlet, three shots brought the powerful animal down.

The experience is not a first for Gibbons, who came eye to eye with a polar bear while working at the Arviat airport seven years ago.

"I had just sent up a balloon to check the height of the clouds and I turned and there was a polar bear six metres away," he said. "And I didn't have anything (a weapon) then either."

Gibbons said he's not taking any more chances. "This is the second time -- I am one lucky guy," he said. "I'm going to be carrying a rifle from now on."