Naujaat celebrates bowhead whale harvest

The community of Naujaat, Nunavut, caught a bowhead whale over the weekend.

Despite windy conditions, the 16-metre whale was hunted within two hours after it was first sighted on Saturday.

MichelAkkuardjukwas the captain during the hunt, and said the community is overjoyed.

"We were welcomed by so many, I was really humbled and felt joy," he said.

"I received many handshakes and that really stood out for me."

Akkuardjuk says it shouldn't take too long to butcher thewhale.

The regional wildlife organizations select the communities that will take part in the annual hunt.

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

A hunt can take months of planning and does not always work out. Naujaathad a licence last year but did not successfully harvest a whale.

The hunt is monitoredwith the assistance of co-management partners, including the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board,the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the local hunters and trappers organizations.

Iqaluitcelebrated the harvesting of a bowheadwhale earlier this month. It was only the city's second catch of a bowhead in a century.

The whale hunt is a traditional part of Inuit culture, and a successful hunt can feed hundreds.

Naujaat, on the shores of Hudson Bay,has a population of about 1,080.

With files from Pauline Pemik, Mike Salomonie