Hunting frenzy and departure from Pond
August 4 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Today - again - was a day of surprises. I expected a sober grocery run before leaving Pond Inlet on engine on a calm day. Well, both happened, only that additionally a Narwhal hunt unfolded directly in front on Pond Inlet. Yet another face of this little town revealed itself.
Together with Anne and Hugues we visit the Canada Park center to learn about the national parks and what that means for our voyage. Very informative. On the way we meet an elderly couple at their house and strike up a conversation on the topic of hunting. As usual, the question for what they hunt is answered with “everything”. The conversation develops and culminates in the presentation of a 3-meter long narwhal tusk. An enormous piece of 10,000 CAD value - 1,000 CAD per foot is the market price. The elderly woman is the hunter of this particular narwhal and says that it was her “first and last” narwhal to kill. While being proud of it, she didn’t like it. Never again for her. It seems like it is a must-have in an Inuit live.
We then continue to the Co-op to reprovision primarily on fresh produce. In terms of freshness the Co-op beats the Pisifiks we had in Greenland, but the prices are hefty—double to triple compared to Halifax. As we walk down from the Co-op towards the harbor, a 15-minute walk, we notice narwhals out on the water. Pretty soon we have cars and quads pulling boats on trailers at breakneck speed past us to the harbor. As we arrive in the harbor, there are already about 50 boats out on the water, typically crewed with 2-3 people, a driver and a harpoonist. We hear that about 20 pods of each around 5 narwhals are nearing the town. Work in town is paused as many people either hunt or watch the spectacle. The intensity is enormous. As we arrive in the harbor, there are already about 50 boats out on the water, typically crewed with 2-3 people, a driver and an harpoonist / rifle shooter.
It is not pretty. The name of the game is “get as much as possible” as opposed to “get as much as you need”. First, the animal is either shot but not killed or harpooned. Once it is harpooned with one or two properly stuck harpoons with lines attached to floating buoys, the animal is killed with rifle shots when it surfaces to breathe. Killing before harpooning would lose the Narwhal to the bottom of the sea. Mothers with their young ones swimming next to them are harpooned together. Water turns red. During the half hour we watch about 8 narwhals fall prey. But the hunt continues….
The event has the character of a sportive event: on shore, spectators applause when a narwhal was successfully harpooned by a friend or a good shot was placed. And the more hits, the better. The first narwhal has been towed into harbor and is being cut up. The majority though is left hanging on their buoys to be collected once as many as possible have been harpooned.
We motor out on glassy water westwards and leave the hunting game behind. Reservation territories for sure aren’t healthy for narwhals.Read more