RANKIN INLET/WAGER BAY - The hunting crew out of Rankin Inlet successfully harvested a bowhead whale this past month, but not before the 17-metre behemoth put up a titanic struggle.

The whale attacked at least two boats in the hunting party, striking with one enough force to almost lift it out of the water. Hunt co-captain and number one harpooner, Ross Tatty, said the experience was exciting, eye-opening and terrifying, all rolled into one. He said the bowhead put up a strong fight, so it took the crew quite a while before the whale was finally landed.

"We were really surprised because the harpoon-loaded penthrite grenade really didn't help all that much," said Tatty.

"We had some scared guys aboard the boats because that was a pretty mean whale we harpooned.

"Every time we would start to get up close it would turn towards the boat and attack, striking us a few times and another boat once.

"We didn't really expect to get hit, and a couple of times it struck us so hard it practically took my whole boat right out of the water."

Tatty said the hunt took longer than the fairly inexperienced crew members expected when they left the serenity of their home port. He said bad weather continually frustrated the hunters as the Aug. 31 deadline rapidly approached.

"We were gone for more than three weeks, with, I believe, the whale being harpooned on our 23rd day," said Tatty. "It was very windy most of the time we were out there.

"We had seen a few bowhead before the one we actually landed, but, every time we'd chase one, bad weather or fog would hit us again and we couldn't get close enough.

"So, we never really had a good chance of landing one until the 53-footer we landed on Aug. 28, which was a pretty-fair-sized whale."

Paul Kanayok was the official captain of the hunt, with Tatty, Peter Kaput and Steven Sateana on regular harpoons, and Harry Ittinuar handling the grenade-loaded harpoon. Titaaq Komaksiutiksak, originally slotted to also be on harpoon, ran into some medical difficulties and had to return home before the successful strike. Tatty said the boats used in the neighbourhood of $5,000 per week in fuel. He said the whale was finally struck near Nuvuk Point, not far from Wager Bay.

"We had to tow the whale for about eight miles before we could land it and start butchering the carcass.

"That took us a little more than four hours to get it there.

"Everything taken from the whale will be distributed among all the Kivalliq communities.

"The HTO (Hunters and Trappers Organization) makes the final decision on how it will be distributed with the other communities."

Tatty said although the hunt took longer and was more costly than expected, it was well worth the time, money and effort. He said the hunt was also a real learning experience for the hunters involved.

"The bowhead hunt is a great learning experience for both the young guys and our elders," the co-captain said. "It's very important to the communities and should be continued.

"Everyone across the entire region got very excited when they heard the news we had landed a bowhead.

"There's so many people who love to eat it, we even had a boat come by and get a part of it right away."

The Rankin hunters had the only bowhead tag available in the Kivalliq region. Tatty said it was up to the Kivalliq Wildlife Board (comprised of the chairperson of each community HTO in the region) to decide which community application would be accepted for this year's hunt. He said the board decided to grant the tag to Rankin because the community had been trying to get approved for a hunt for a number of years.

"We're not sure, yet, if another hunt will be held next year, but we're hoping to find out at the next HTO meeting.

"For this year, our HTO set up a subcommittee to plan the bowhead hunt.

"We also got sponsorships from various local businesses and the mining companies active in the region, and we appreciate all their support.

"In fact, we got great support from all over the place to make this hunt a true regional effort."