7 years in the making: Iqaluit hunters celebrate successful bowhead whale harvest

The community of Iqaluit is celebrating a major milestone and preparing to fill their freezers after a bowheadwhale was successfully hunted near the community on Tuesday afternoon.

It's been seven years since the last bowhead was hunted and killed near Iqaluit. This summer, the localAmarok Hunters and Trappers Association aimed to change that, organizing a hunt and encouraging locals to join.

• Bowhead whale hunt coming to waters near Iqaluit this summer

Several hunters left Iqaluit on Monday in multiple boats. They reported a successful harvest at 2:30 p.m. local time Tuesday.

It was the first bowhead hunt for Jack Alakkariallak, who said said there was a tense moment when the whale suddenly changed direction.

"When [a hunter on his boat] was trying to harpoon it, it came up under the boat," he said. "We were parallel, and it turned and went under us and came up.

"Amazing, but scary."

As of Tuesday evening, the whale is being dragged back to Iqaluit, where it will be harvested and shared with members of the community.

• Cumberland Sound, a spa retreat for bowhead whales in need of deep exfoliation

Food for hundreds

The last successful bowhead hunt by Iqaluit hunters was in 2011, when a 14-metre whale was killed by more than20 hunters. In March, hunter Ben Kovic said that getting the opportunity to hunt a bowhead does not guarantee a successful catch, even with months of planning.

• Nunavik girl, 18, harpoons 14-metre bowhead whale on first-ever hunt

The whale hunt is a traditional part of Inuit culture. Prior to 2011, it had been over a century since Inuit in Iqaluit harvested a bowhead, as the species had been off-limits to hunting to ensure healthy numbers of the species.

Whale numbers began to rebound in the mid-1990s, and a licence system was put into effect, with hunters from a small handful of communities being given the chance to harvest a whale each year.

A successful bowheadharvest can feed hundreds of people. In March, the AmarokHunters and Trappers Association told CBC that if a bowheadwas brought back to Iqaluit, some of the meat and muktuk (whale skin and blubber) will be shared with other communities.

With files from Angela Hill