It’s almost midnight. We’re standing on a smooth
patch of new sea ice near Coburg Island, a 2½-hour snowmobile
ride east of Grise Fiord and a kilometre or so from
the open waters of Baffin Bay. The Lady Ann Strait polynya
(open water surrounded by sea ice) has almost completely
frozen over, trapping several dozen beluga whales. Jeffrey
Qaunaq, his wife Susie, their three sons and Susie’s father,
Aksajuk Ningiuk, have invited a few visitors to witness
this rarely seen phenomenon.
Beluga whales
A pod of Beluga whales find a break in the ice to come up for air. (Video: Lisa Gregoire)
The wind hits my face like a slap. Swaddled in down and
fur, we huddle like penguins beside a hole two metres long
and about 30 centimetres wide, and wait. A white adult beluga
breaches, blows spray from a valve on top of its head and
inhales deeply before plunging back into the indigo aperture.
Suddenly, the portal is a churning mass of grey and white
bodies, pushing, bobbing, gasping, diving. This would be
thrilling if the whales weren’t in such obvious distress.
But a trapped animal is a hunter’s good fortune, and
Qaunaq and his family prepare to harvest. Jesse, 12, aims the
Second World War-era Enfield .303 rifle into the water.
His father stands to his right, ready to
harpoon the wounded prey before it
sinks. The elder, Ningiuk, is on Jesse’s
left; he’ll choose an animal, and on his
mark, Jesse will shoot. Twenty minutes
pass. Steadfast and eventually encased
in a thin layer of ice from the whales’
spray, they are statues in a timeless
diorama. Finally, the elder yells, the
boy fires, and the father plunges the
harpoon into the whale’s rear flank.
How we live could destroy a culture. And that makes
climate change an issue of human rights: the right
to live connected to the land; the right to be cold.
Ningiuk has seen belugas trapped
like this before. But it’s nearly spring, he
explains, cracks will soon appear in the
ice and the whales should survive.
Belugas have copious blubber reserves
and the ability to store oxygen in muscles as well as in blood, and can live for months under ice.
They bust open air holes with their backs, dive more than
500 metres and feed on cod. Some of these belugas may die.
Some may be hunted. But they are patient, tenacious,
communal and adaptable, and despite Mother Nature’s
trickery, many will live and thrive. They are like the Inuit,
who face a similar trickery and the same promising odds.
In one generation, Inuit were swept up by both a social
and an economic revolution. In one more, they will undergo
an environmental one. “I think Inuit are realizing there’s not
a lot they can do to make the changes needed,” says Mary
Simon, “and the world community is not addressing these
issues.” Nor is Canada.
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Watt-Cloutier worries mostly about those responsible for
maintaining infrastructure such as community sewage
lagoons, water reservoirs, public buildings and mine tailings
ponds, all of which could be undermined by melting
permafrost. “Our hunters will likely fare better than our institutions,”
she says. “They will be challenged, of course.
There are more accidents on the ice now, and people are
losing their lives and their machines. But they are ingenious,
and they are definitely adapting.”
In a time of worrying ambiguity, this, at least, is true.
I visit Ningiuk after our trip to the polynya. With the aid
of an interpreter, he gives me his observations of the sky, the
ice and the wind. Amid his tidy collection of teacups and
family photos is a narwhal tusk, a harpoon and a laptop
computer. When I ask about the laptop, he smiles proudly.
The internet offers quick access to current weather conditions
and detailed images of the floe edge and shifting sea
ice, he says. Oh, and MSN Messenger is a great way to stay
in touch with friends.
I've been to Grise Fiord just after a Narwhal slaughter. It was an amazing sight to see the butchered whales seasoning in the open air and the tusks being cleaned by the bacteria in the water. It is a beautiful, tranquil place.
Submitted by SEASIDESUE on Monday, February 07, 2011
What happened to the Beluga trapped in the ice was sad. The video made me feel terrible for these whales who are being killed because they can not get away. I know this was some time back but it is still a sad sight. I lived in the north when this was going on.
Submitted by Lori on Monday, October 06, 2008
Having lived in Grise Fiord the portion of the article "Sunlight 24-hour daylight from May to August 24-hour darkness from October to early February" is not correct. The last sun is seen Nov 3rd and then peeks over the horizon on Feb 11th. Between these dates there is about 10 days of twilight before total darkness sets in.
Submitted by George on Sunday, October 05, 2008
Lisa Gregoire has once again provided your readers with experiences of yet another adventure. She puts you right there along with her. Well done as usual.
Submitted by Paula Wallace on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Stunning, beautiful photographs!
Submitted by Kelly Vandenberg on Tuesday, September 16, 2008
