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TALOYOAK/SPENCE BAY
As the boat neared the beluga, Wilson Mannilaq pulled his arm back and plunged the harpoon into the white-fleshed beast that had surfaced to take a breath.

Wilson Mannilaq was among seven Taloyoak youth who went on a whaling trip last month. Together the group caught five belugas, which they shared at a community feast. - submitted photo

The whale writhed in pain causing the harpoon head, which had hit bone, to come loose.

Mannilaq, 17, and his two friends each grabbed their rifles and fired. Bang, bang, bang ...

About five bullets pierced the whale and it slowly started to sink into the icy water.

The hunters acted quickly, wrapping a rope twice around the beluga's flippers before it landed on the shallow bottom.

Getting the beast back to shore was quite a chore, recalled Mannilaq.

"It was very heavy," he said, adding he thought he would be more nervous and excited while catching his first whale.

"But I was really normal and calm."

Once the hunters got the whale to land, they cut it into strips and stored the pieces in a meat box.

Mannilaq was one of seven youth aged 11 to 18 who participated in the whale hunt, which was funded by the Taloyoak health committee.

"The youth came back very happy and they had so much to say to their families about their long journey and how much they had to go through to make a whale hunt. But they really enjoyed it," said hamlet wellness co-ordinator Mary Ugyuk.

The youth headed out Aug. 13 along with an elder and three local hunters. Two of the hunters are Canadian Rangers.

Five of the teenagers each caught a whale during the hunt near Prince of Wales Island.

The other two lost their kills after their equipment failed and the animals drifted under the ice, said Ugyuk.

Mannilaq also caught a caribou and a seal on the trip.

However, before they could eat the seal two polar bears came into the camp while everyone was sleeping and scarfed it down, he said.

One of the guides woke from the noise and scared the bears off with his rifle before anything bad happened.

On their way back to Taloyoak, the group got iced in for about three days when the region was hit with snow and strong winds.

But it didn't dampen Mannilaq's spirits.

Although they were out for nearly two weeks, it only felt like five days, he said, adding he would love to go out again.

"Before I try to get a snowmobile and a quad I'm going to try to get a boat and a kicker first," said Mannilaq.

The purpose of the hunt is to build the youth's self-esteem and to get them out of the house to socialize with others, said Ugyuk.

The committee also hopes the participants' attendance at school will improve.

"We are going to get a report by the end of the year from the school counsellor to see if the youth that went on the whale hunt are improving in school just because of that," said Ugyuk.

A community feast was set to be held Aug. 29 to celebrate the hunters' achievements and to share the muktuk.

The leftovers will go toward the community's nutrition programs, said Ugyuk.

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