INUVIK
It was a strange season for beluga whales all over the North, said whale researchers running monitoring programs.

Sonja Ostertag, a doctoral student working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the beluga monitoring programs in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, presented some preliminary finding Nov. 12. There is still no ready explanation for the presence of three or four belugas in the East Channel this fall. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

On Nov. 12, Sonja Ostertag, a doctoral student working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the beluga monitoring programs in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, led a presentation of preliminary findings from researchers. The audience at the Aurora Research Institute included about a dozen people.

Among the other oddities of the season, there still is no ready explanation for the presence of a small but undetermined number of beluga whales in the East Channel last September.

Ostertag confirmed samples were taken from a beluga that was found dead on the banks of the channel near the turnoff to Aklavik, but the results haven't been helpful in determining what caused its death.

At least one other whale, and possibly two others, were seen offshore of Inuvik for at least a few days around the same time.

It's the first time in memory that belugas have been seen near the town, according to elders such as Gerry Kisoun and Edward Lennie.

Whales have been seen very infrequently on the Mackenzie River proper near Aklavik, including one that was allegedly harvested just a few years ago, Ostertag said.

A few elders with extensive knowledge of beluga whales, including Bertha Joe from the East Whitefish Station, attended the meeting but they had no easy explanations either for what the hunters were seeing, much less why the whales would be in the East Channel.

The preliminary research work done on the dead whale near the junction of the channel indicates it wasn't in poor shape, she told the audience of about a dozen people.

Ostertag said more results from the necropsy and testing should be available in the spring, and that work might provide more in the way of concrete evidence as to what caused its death.

She had spoken to several elders, who she said suggested that a large storm might have driven the whales into the estuary of the Mackenzie River and from there, they might have become disoriented and found their way into the East Channel and headed upriver.

Surviving in fresh water isn't a challenge for the animals, Ostertag said.

Ostertag said there also is no good explanation for the large number of belugas hunted near Ulukhaktok this summer.

Nor is there a good explanation as to why the whales around the coastal communities such as Ulukhaktok were apparently thinner than normal.

Fisheries and Oceans, which sponsors the community monitoring programs in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, along with the Fisheries Joint Management Committee, sent staff member and Inuvik resident Kate Snow to Ulukhaktok to interview whale hunters there and glean their knowledge of the situation.

The hamlet isn't part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region Beluga Monitoring Program, but could join in the future, Ostertag said.

Monitoring stations are currently established at Kendall Island, East Whitefish, Hendrickson Island and Darnley Bay along the coast.

Fisheries and Oceans and the joint management committee are also operating a local ecological indicators study, which is gathering community traditional knowledge of beluga whales. An acoustics and habitat study is also underway.

"I'm presenting the results of our last two years of work, where we've been gathering community observations on beluga whales from the summer harvest and travelling during the summer and fall," she said.

"The main part of what I've noticed is the interest and high levels of participation in these projects. We've had a lot of hunters contribute their knowledge, and it's been really inspiring."

There were few questions from the audience generated by the presentation.

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