Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Repulse Bay (Aug 31/05) - Hunters in Repulse Bay harvested the largest bowhead whale ever landed in Nunavut earlier this month.

The record whale measured out at 16 metres (54 feet).

The hunters employed a combination of traditional and new equipment to efficiently and humanely harvest the whale.

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) allows Inuit in Nunavut to harvest a bowhead whale.

The first harvest after the NLCA signing took place in Repulse in 1996.

Since then, bowhead have been landed in Pangnirtung (1998), Coral Harbour (2000) and Iglulik (2002).

The new equipment and fuel for the 2005 hunt was provided by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Hunt captain Marcel Mapsalak says the hunt went even better than he had hoped.

The hunters left Repulse about 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 18, and spotted the bowhead about 13 km away. The hunters chased the whale towards shore and started to fire harpoons attached to 180 metres of rope.

The first two harpoons found their target, but came off shortly after impact. The third one stuck and then another harpoon, with much-shorter rope attached, also hit home.

An exploding harpoon was then used to slow the whale, before a rifle and a long harpoon through the heart were used to finish it off.

In all, it only took the hunters 45 minutes to finish their task. That was the fastest kill ever recorded in the Kivalliq.

"The community was very excited when we brought the bowhead in," says Mapsalak.

"People were yelling and cheering everywhere when we arrived."

The whale was brought to the point near town so heavy equipment could be used to pull it up on shore.

Mapsalak says it took a full week to complete the job of cutting up the whale.

"Everyone in town who wanted muktaq got it - pretty much every house - and people from Rankin Inlet and Coral Harbour also took some back to their communities.

"We still have more stored in the community freezer.

"The hunters really did a good job and I'm very, very proud of them."