TUKTOYAKTUK - When hunters bring whales back to Henderson Island in July, Frank Pokiak is usually there to poke and prod the dead animal, but he does so with respect.

As a whale monitor with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Tuk resident does tests on the whales caught outside his community. After getting permission from the hunters, he takes measurements, blood, samples of the jaw, blubber and organs.

"You get curious to see if you're going to find anything abnormal on the whales but we haven't really found anything abnormal. It's fortunate."

He said people are concerned about contaminants, but so far, the animals are healthy.

"It's still safe to eat everything in a whale. That's good news," he said.

During the weeks when he's taking samples, he and wife Nellie camp on the island. Their grandchildren often join them, as do other kids from the community.

"I love it, we really enjoy it out there" he said. "We've watched them (grandchildren) grow out there during the summertime."

Pokiak has even started showing some of his older grandchildren how to take samples and teaching them about the importance of testing.

He said this year's season got off to a slow start, with high winds and hot weather that threatened to ruin the meat.

"It's dangerous to work on a whale when it's hot out. They spoil quickly," he said.

But despite this, it was a good harvest with at least 30 whales caught by the end of July.

Pokiak even netted his own whale on the last day before he packed up camp. When he's travelling in the winter, he likes to bring muktuk to people he visits and is looking forward to smoked muktuk.

Though groups still hunt on calm days, he said it's much easier to hunt in early July because the whales come to the surface more often. By August they're cautious, staying underwater and spouting rarely.

A seasoned whaler himself, he started the monitoring job 10 years ago, after he tested cisco in Tuk when there were concerns about the harbour.

Born in Sachs Harbour, Pokiak has lived in Tuk most of his life. He worked for oil companies and travelled through the NWT and Nunavut working in construction and as a foreman.

But after the Inuvialuit Land Claim was settled in 1984, he became more interested in the responsibility to manage wildlife.

As chair of the Inuvialuit game council, Pokiak now travels through the Delta. He's entering his third year of a four-year term, helping to manage wildlife. Working closely with Hunters and Trappers Committees, "we keep an eye and do research on all the species we have," he said.

"Wildlife always interested me and it makes it quite easier when we utilize what we harvest," he said, adding it's important to keep a close eye on the whale population, because in the years to come their habitat could change. He's been following the Gulf of Mexico spill and "if there's anything that's going to happen offshore, we have to have information collected before."

Though conservation often becomes contentious, he said Pokiak has been grateful for the support from communities.

"It's always something you have to keep in mind is that's what feeds you. We're not there to make them disappear, we depend on them to survive, whether it's whales or caribou or geese.

"We have to make sure we have it for our grandchildren and their children."

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