Trapped whales feed Sanikiluaq
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Sanikiluaq (Jan 29/01) - The hamlet of Sanikiluaq is celebrating a surprise bounty of beluga.
Hunters harvested 15 of the white whales in recent weeks, all thanks to seal hunters who found the beluga trapped by ice.
Sanikiluaq elder Zack Novalinga said seal hunters were out on the ice Dec. 30 when they found an air hole shared by the whales.
At first it was thought there were 10 beluga whales trapped under the ice. After more hunters came out to inspect the site, it was confirmed that 15 whales were trapped.
The hunters were careful not to scare the whales away.
"If people move around too much, they will try to move to another blow hole, but at that time in the season there wasn't another hole," explained Novalinga.
"When they found them, there was nothing in their stomachs. They were losing weight. When that happens the hunters get them instead of letting them suffer."
The hunters killed six whales before they were forced to quit because of bad weather.
The harvest enabled the residents of Sanikiluaq to feast on beluga during a New Year's Day celebration.
After drifting snow blew in over the bay, the hunters were worried the air hole might close and the remaining whales would die.
On Jan. 2, the hunters went back to discover the air hole still intact and the remaining nine whales still alive.
"They got the rest of them," Novalinga explained, adding that the group of hunters had to work quickly in the cold.
"When you take them out of the water, the muktaaq freezes solid in about five minutes so the cutting has to be very fast."
The entire community benefited from the harvest.
"These whales were then divided and delivered to every household in Sanikiluaq, a most welcome and necessary addition to the families' diets," said RCMP Cpl. Parker Kennedy.
"This was good news for this community."
Sanikiluaq whale hunters usually go out every spring, between April and July, harvesting three to five whales during that time.
The last time whales were trapped under Sanikiluaq ice was in the late 1980s. Residents killed three.
A similar situation took place in Grise Fiord almost two years ago.
