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    No evidence found of explosion

    Kassina Ryder
    Northern News Services
    Published Monday, August 25, 2008

    BAFFIN ISLAND - The details behind what is being referred to as the "mysterious explosion" north of Baffin Island last month may remain a mystery.

    On July 21, a Canadian Ranger in Pond Inlet filed a report that a hunter had made a statement about an incident north of Baffin Island.

    The report was forwarded to Canadian Forces' Joint Task Force North in Yellowknife, according to JTFN spokesperson Summer Halliday.

    "The first report was Thursday, the 21st of July," Halliday said. "That was when the local hunter claims to have heard a loud bang and saw smoke."

    The week of Aug. 11, a helicopter with the Canadian Coast Guard ship Henry Larson flew over the area where the event was said to have taken place, but crew said there was nothing out of the ordinary, Halliday said.

    "They reported no evidence of an explosion or any signs of dead whales or anything," she said. "So that's where we are right now."

    The Aurora aircraft that was originally going to be sent to look into the incident has now been cancelled, she added.

    "The Aurora didn't go because we had this reliable source from the Coast Guard," Halliday said.

    A boat from the Parks Canada office in Pond Inlet was also going to be sent to investigate the area, but mechanical problems prevented the vessel from leaving the community.

    "We didn't dispatch a boat as was reported because our boat wasn't working," said Pauline Scott, communications manager for the Nunavut Field Unit of Parks Canada. "We're actually trying to get the motor fixed even as we speak and that's difficult in the High North."

    Halliday said she is unsure if any further searches will take place.