Igaliqtuuq crew spots record number of bowhead whales

MIRIAM HILL

A biologist contracted by the World Wildlife Fund Canada says an increase in the number of bowhead whales counted in Isabella Bay this summer could just be a fluke.

Ben Wheeler and his team wrapped up the second year of a three-year study Sept. 18 with a substantially different whale count than the year before.

On the best day in 2001 Wheeler said his team saw a total of 30 of the whales, now on the endangered list because of over-hunting in the early 1900s. On this year’s busiest day they counted a total of 145.

“It doesn’t mean there are more whales it just means maybe they all came together on one day, but it certainly felt good to see that many whales at one time,” Wheeler said. Previously, the most they’d seen at one time was 99 in 1997, so it is a fairly significant increase.

“I would say it doesn’t mean anything yet,” he cautioned. “We don’t really have enough information to draw any conclusions unfortunately.”

Isabella Bay, or Igaliqtuuq, is the only place in the world where scientists know whales come every year. Wheeler said they suspect the repeat business is because the bay is sort of like a kitchen for the whales, with lots of deep areas and an abundance of food.

Team members watch from the top of a hill about 130 metres high and use field scopes, binoculars and an engineering instrument called a theodolite to gauge the animals’ north-south position and how far away it is. The information is then entered into Palm Pilots and later downloaded to a computer. Maps of the sightings can be printed out and over time trends can be seen as to where the whales are staying.

Wheeler’s crew was made up of seven people in 2001. This year eight people, including six from the nearby community of Clyde River were involved.

In addition to counting there were also people in kayaks taking photographs of whales. Another component of the study involved dragging the ocean water with a net for plankton, which can include the small organisms the bowheads eat.

“We think that the whales are there feeding so we try and correlate that to what’s in the water,” he said.

Bowhead whales are usually born black, but over time from collisions with ice or killer whales, their only predator other than man, bowheads build up scar tissue that can serve as identifying characteristics.

Again this year Wheeler’s team interviewed elders and hunters to gather traditional knowledge on the species.

“Surveying for traditional knowledge is one of those things where it’s best to just have a cup of tea and go over stuff,” he said. “We show them pictures of whales and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I remember that whale I saw that 30 years ago,’ or, ‘That kind of whale you should stay away from because they’re dangerous,’ and ‘When whales come to shore it’s because of this,’ just sitting down and talking to them you learn a lot.”

The project, cooperatively managed through a Project Management Team, made up of stakeholder representatives from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, the Department of Sustainable Development, WWF, Environment Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Qikiqtani Wildlife Board, and the Hunters and Trappers Organization, is an interesting symbiosis between science and Inuit knowledge.

“It’s really coming together and it’s a real working model you don’t find in many research projects,” Wheeler said. “The Inuit are very involved. They’re tired of being told what’s going on and how to do stuff, so they’re the ones doing stuff now and taking observations. It makes sense because they know them so well.”

As part of his project, Wheeler is training local students to collect scientific data, an imperative task according to Clyde River resident Loseeosee Aipellee.

For more than 20 years, people in Clyde River have been trying to have Igaliqtuuq proclaimed a national wildlife area and although negotiations are ongoing (according to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement an Inuit Impact and Benefits Agreement must be negotiated first) nothing has come to fruition.

“To us right now having students in Igaliqtuuq is very, very important because we’ve been trying to get some student Inuit future biologists not only at Igaliqtuuq but they could go anywhere in Nunavut where they could study or help train other Inuit,” Aipellee said.

He said in the past biologists and Inuit didn’t work together, but that needs to change.

“Good communication between Clyde River and biologists is important,” he said. And as results come back it may help turn Igaliqtuuq into a sanctuary. “That’s why we want to ensure we keep it that way.”

Aipellee said the 145 whales seen in early September is an incredible number, but it doesn’t mean we should sit back and assume the population is growing healthier.

“I hope it keeps going up and I’m sure that even though we see that many bowhead whales we know there has to be more study done on bowhead whales,” he said. “Not only on bowheads but on the area itself.”