Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 10/01) - There's something wrong with the seals, say local hunters.

This season's catch of Ringed seals is skinnier, smaller and sparser than anyone can remember.

"They're not as fat as they should be by this time of year," says John Keogik, one of five residents who hunt seals to feed to their dog teams in the winter.

He says that usually at this time of year, the seals have put on so much blubber that their bodies will float when shot. Instead, they're sinking.

"There must be something going on. We caught one yesterday and we checked the stomach -- there's nothing in there," says Keogik.

The behaviour of these seals is also peculiar, Keogik says. Usually, they're more curious, but this year, they act like they're spooked.

"Maybe there's something around like a killer whale or some walruses," Keogik muses. "Something is scaring them, anyway."

In his 20 years of hunting seals in the area, he says he's never seen anything like it.

Floyd Sydney, the head of the Hunters and Trappers Committee, has similar things to say. He noticed that some of the seals haven't changed to their winter coats yet, and their fur is shorter than it should be.

"They're undersized and they're malnourished," Sydney says. It's also taking longer to catch fewer seals. He says it took him nine hours to bag four seals, when in a better year, it would have taken half the time.

Biologist Lois Harwood with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans says a number of things could be affecting the seals. She's awaiting samples from the community to get a better idea of what's going on.

"It's something that is certainly worth investigating," she says. In the meantime, she can only speculate that the seals aren't getting enough to eat, possibly due to the late break-up and heavy ice conditions around Sachs Harbour this year.

"Conditions favourable for seals may have been delayed. The pickings may have been slim this year, but we have no direct measure of that."

A seal study is in place in Holman, where Harwood says there have been no unusual reports this year. In Paulatuuq, she says, she's heard some seals were slightly thinner as well.

"It's been very well documented that the seal populations fluctuate ... It's a very dynamic system." She said the Western Arctic population of Ringed seals is considered healthy and that the changes in Sachs Harbour this year may simply represent a localized variation.