Kevin Wilson & James Hrynyshyn
Northern News Services

Clyde River (Oct 29/01) - Protection of bowhead whales off the coast of Clyde River got a high-profile patron last week courtesy of the House of Windsor.

World Wildlife Fund Canada announced the creation of a fund honouring His Royal Highness, Prince Philip.

The Duke of Edinburgh Fund to Protect Canada's Waters will focus on conservation of four bodies of water across Canada, including the proposed Igaliqtuuq marine protected area near Clyde River.

The $400,000 fund bearing Prince Philip's name was launched last Saturday at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.

The prince told a press conference he hopes the fund "will have the effect of bringing more of these very important sites under proper protection."

WWF Canada president Monte Hummel said Prince Philip has supported the organization's conservation effort for more than 20 years

"He did his usual great job for us and he certainly remembered Igaliqtuuq," said Hummel.

The proposed Igaliqtuuq sanctuary covers 580,000 hectares in Isabella Bay, approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Clyde River on the northeast coast of Baffin Island.

It supports the largest known concentration of bowhead whales from the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait population. Up to 100 congregate in the waters during the summer and fall to feed and to mate.

Negotiations for an Inuit impact benefit agreement to create the sanctuary have been underway for 15 years between Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and the Canadian Wildlife Service. They are expected to wrap up in June.

The bowhead is considered an endangered species both in Canada and internationally. Scientists believe most of the whales, which can live as long as 200 years or more, are survivors of 18th- and 19th-century whaling.

British Columbia biologist Kerry Finley, who spent 14 summers studying the whales of Isabella Bay, said last week that the future of the population depends on science taking precedence over politics.

"Unfortunately, the bowhead's generation time greatly exceeds our political attention span," Finley said.

Peter Ewins, director of the fund's arctic programs, urged both NTI and the federal government to set aside their differences over the financial elements of declaring Isabella Bay a marine sanctuary. It may never again be so easy, he said.

"Crises are extremely difficult to solve ecologically and economically. All we have here is an opportunity," he said.