Igloolik hunter makes successful kill in Amittuq bowhead hunt

SARA ARNATSIAQ

The Amittuq Bowhead Hunt committee successfully harvested a 46-foot bowhead whale approximately 24 kilometres northeast of Igloolik last Saturday.

Edward Tarparjuk, Secretary-Manager for the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association, said that there were eight hunters from Hall Beach and eight hunters from Igloolik.

The bowhead was fired at using a bomb gun four times, but the fourth shot missed the whale. The bowhead was still alive after it had been hit three times, so it was harpooned with a traditional bowhead harpoon by Jaypith Palluq, an Igloolik hunter. The harpoon finally killed it.

The butchering and packaging has been completed so that the muktaq can be shared with Nunavut communities that request it from Igloolik and Hall Beach Hunters and Trappers Organizations.

A report of the Amittuq Bowhead Hunt will be filed by the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.

Tom Demcheson, acting executive director of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, said he expects the report to be completed by the end of the month. He does not know yet whether the report will be made public.

In the meantime, the communities of Igloolik and Hall Beach are making plans for a community feast to celebrate the successful bowhead hunt.