Bowhead whale found dead, beached near Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investigating after a bowhead whale was found dead on the Northwest Territories' Arctic coastline.

The cause of the whale's death is so far undetermined but there is no reason to link it to 30 dead whales found this summer in Alaska and six found offBritish Columbia, saidaspokesperson for the department in an email.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada received a report of a beachedbowheadwhale nearTokerPoint, about25 kilometresnorth ofTuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., last Thursday.

Lois Harwood, a biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, saysbeachcastbowheadsare not uncommon in the region, with 24 on record between 1987 and 2014.

"It's not unusual to get one or two reported in a year, particularly when they're these smaller ones because it's likely that it's related to juvenile mortality," she said.

She said the whale was estimated to be about four years old.

Inuvik-area Fisheries and Oceans staffhavetaken samples from the carcass. They hope to confirm the whale's age but cause of death may be difficult to determine because ofdecomposition.

'As soon as we saw the seagulls, I knew what it was'

Ron Felix, a hunter fromTuktoyaktuk, said he saw the whale when boating home from a caribou hunt at nearby Atkinson Point with his son, James. He said that a large numberof seagulls alerted him to the carcass.

"As soon as we saw the seagulls, I knew what it was," he said."There was a carcass in the bay, right in the beach there.It was black. Must be about 25 feet or so.

"I've never seen that," he said. "Never seen abowheadon this side. So this is pretty rare."

Felix, who is also a carver, said thatTuktoyaktuk residents, including himself, may use the whale's bones to create artwork. He said that he expects the carcass to be eaten by animals, but isn't concerned about it attracting polar bears to Tuktoyaktuk.

"The odd one, the young ones may come up, but that's it," he said. "We have a lot of dogs here in town and they warn us if any animals come from the ice."