Photo: A whale of a story in Sanikiluaq

Sanikiluaq’s Anita Kavik holds up the tail of a beluga she harvested — her first ever — near the King George Islands, July 11. Kavik, 23, told Nunatsiaq News she was out looking for eider duck nests to gather down when they saw a pod of belugas. Her boyfriend gave her his .303 rifle and told her to shoot when they came up for air. It took her a few tries but she managed to finally get one. She called her Godmother in Inukjuak right away to tell her and then split the maktaaq between her Godmother and local elders. Belugas, common to the Belcher Islands in southern Hudson Bay, are very closely related to narwhals and unlike most whales, belugas have flexible necks which allow them to turn their heads in all directions. (PHOTO BY ANNIE KAVIK)