Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Grise Fiord (Oct 04/04) - The Canadian military has determined that a buoy found in Musk Ox Fiord, more than 120 kilometres outside the community, is not harmful, but the owner is still unknown.

"We couldn't verify that it wasn't military, so therefore we went up and had a look," said Maj. Alan McIntosh from Canadian Forces Northern Headquarters in Yellowknife.

The marker is made up of a cylinder approximately one foot in length and a larger flotation ball.

The cylinder appears to be a sensor of some sort, said McIntosh, adding it was given to the Grise Fiord RCMP.

The flotation ball was left in place because it was too large to move.

Both the cylinder and the float are expected to be picked up by the Coast Guard next year, McIntosh said.

Residents first photographed and videotaped the approximately foot-long yellow marker after finding it on shore in the bay of the popular caribou hunting ground last year.

There had been concerns that it may have been dangerous, but Jeffrey Quanaq, who came across the buoy while out with his brother last year, didn't see why.

"I carried it. I took pictures of it and I'm still here," said Quanaq, adding he thinks researchers may have planted the object.

Another group of hunters -- one of whom sent e-mails notifying the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and National Defence -- saw the buoy while out on the land Aug. 30.

Two military personnel arrived in the community the week of Sept. 20 to photograph, measure and possibly transport the object back to Yellowknife should it belong to the military.

Strong winds -- at times blowing up to an estimated 90km/h -- delayed a trip out to the site until Sept 24.

The military photographs were to be transmitted by satellite to the Canadian Forces Northern Headquarters in Yellowknife, which was to distribute them to organizations including the Coast Guard, DFO and the Navy to help find an owner.

The Canadian Navy has denied ownership of the marker.