Volunteers gather bowhead bones for eventual exhibit

When Iqaluit hunters caught a 14-metre bowhead whale last month, they hauled away tons of baleen and maktak.

They also left behind tons of bones.

But Iqaluit city councillor Romeyn Stevenson said this week that volunteers from the Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association are busy scouring the site where the 70-foot whale was hauled ashore.

“It’s a fair amount of work,” he said.

Stevenson said the plan is to bring the bones back to dry for a couple of years, before turning them into some kind of public display.

Meanwhile, hunters from Coral Habour took a bowhead whale Sept. 20 about 160 kilometres from the community, the Aiviit Hunters and Trappers Assoc. confirmed.

However, there’s no word yet about when they will return back to the community with their catch.