Over 200 whales trapped in Canadian ice

[Howzit]

http://news.smh.com.au/world/over-200-whales-trapped-in-canadian-ice-20081122-6eas.html

At least 200 narwhal whales in Canada's Arctic, trapped by winter ice and facing starvation or suffocation, must be culled, officials say. Hunters from the village of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island discovered the animals trapped near Bylot Island, about 17 kilometres from Pond Inlet, on November 15.

The local hunters are allowed to harvest only 130 whales each year for food, according to standards set by the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans. But department spokesman Keith Pelley said: "It's unlikely the animals are going to survive the winter, so the hunters have been given authorisation to cull them."

The hunters have been on the ice slaughtering the whales since Thursday and are likely to accomplish their task over the coming days, he said. Narwhal are found mostly in the Arctic circle, and are renowned for their extraordinarily long tusk, which is actually a twisted incisor tooth that projects from the left side of its upper jaw and can be up to three metres long.

"A couple of weeks ago, when the ice was still moving, there were quite a few narwhal seen out there in the open water," Jayko Allooloo, chairman of the Pond Inlet hunters and trappers organisation, told public broadcaster CBC. "About a week later, they're stuck." Community elders and officials feared the whales would die from a lack of oxygen as the ice grew thicker around them, Pelley explained. There are about a dozen areas of open waters where they could come up for air, but it is a tight squeeze for them.

[byronius]

1. Oy.

[Mojorabbit]

2. Aren't there ships that break ice? nt

[drmeow]

3. Or any other alternative?

Is culling the only solution or is it just the easiest solution.

God I hate the way humans treat animals.

[Nihil]

4. Well, wasn't it dashed good luck that is was a group of *hunters* who spotted them?

That way, they could quickly get about their business ...

> The hunters have been on the ice slaughtering the whales since Thursday
> and are likely to accomplish their task over the coming days, he said.

... before the reports make it out to the public as those tree-hugging,
animal-cuddling public people might have advocated a solution involving ...

> There are about a dozen areas of open waters where they could come up
> for air, but it is a tight squeeze for them.

... rather than "forcing" the "community elders & officials" to make what
must have been such a difficult decision back on November 15th ...

> Community elders and officials feared the whales would die from a
> lack of oxygen as the ice grew thicker around them

... it must have been such a relief for the whales to have died from a
gunshot or harpoon and become food rather than risk a "tight squeeze"
and survive ...

:mad:

I f*cking hate (so-called) humans at times.

[jpak]

5. These "hunters" are native Inuits that have a deep cultural ties to their environment

and yes - they still hunt marine mammals for food.

Just so everyone is clear on this.

[Nihil]

6. So deep that they jump at the chance of going 50% over quota.

I do not object to them taking the 130 that they are allowed.

I do however object to the opportunistic slaughter on this occasion
(not to mention the "not telling until it has been done" approach)
UNLESS they are happy to reduce next year's quota by a significant
amount by way of acknowledging the impact of their action and/or the
reduced necessity for next season thanks to the "bounty" of this one.
(And yes, I admit I might have missed that in the article.)

Maybe I'm just cynical but I would be delighted to find that I have
misjudged the strength of their "deep cultural ties to the environment".
I'm not going to hold my breath over it though.

:shrug:

[jpak]

7. There is an Inuit term for the situation where beluga or narwhal are trapped in ice

(it escapes me but I have met with Inuit from that area and they told us about it)

It is not a common occurrence but it does occur in the early winter. Those particular animals are doomed. If the folks at Pond Inlet can make use of them, so be it.

The Inuit in Eastern Canada and Western Greenland would also be quick to inform you that beluga and narwhal and walrus and bearded/ringed/hooded seals and especially the eastern bowhead whale were and are endangered by the activities of non-Inuits to the South.

Not the Inuit "hunters" that have lived there for centuries.

[Nihil]

8. I think it is something like ..

... "ohshhhhtttt" in the native (whale) dialect ...

I don't deny your second point for an instant (i.e., the effect of the
non-Inuit). I just fear that the rapacious aspects of their Southern
neighbours may have "infected" their innate connection to nature.

My concern wasn't with taking a few of the apparent over-population of
trapped whales but with the apparent taking of *all* the trapped whales.
Even their spokesman said that there was still a chance for a subset
of the trapped whales to survive. "Harvesting" all of the trapped whales
(with no allowance for future years) is the attitude that has f*cked
the rest of this planet and I'd (idealistically) like to hope that the
"cultural" or "traditional" hunters have a slightly more future-oriented
view than the "meeting this quarter's quota" fishermen of the south.

Like I said, maybe I'm being too cynical at the moment.
If so, I apologise to the people involved. (and to you FWIW).

:hi:

[jpak]

9. The Inuit term for whales trapped in leads is 'sassat'...

https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/ISIUOP/Ice+and+Climate+Change+in+Qeqertaq

<snap>

In May 2008, on Taverniers' visit to the area, the Qeqertamiut hunters were interviewed about changes in sea-ice since 1987. Some hunters remember 1990 as a good winter because of the sassat (white whales trapped in polynias or leads) between Ilulissat and Qeqertarsuaq. Since 1995, winters became warmer and much windy. Because of strong winds, the sea ice cannot form off Qeqertaq; the weather is unpredictable; and strong southwest winds break whatever little shore-fast ice is built off the island. From 2003 to 2007 there was no shore-fast ice around the village in winter, just a thin sea-ice cap (10 cm) in the north portion of the bay. As a result, the formerly used sea ice area of 2,000-3,500 sq. km has been reduced to less than 50-70 sq. km (Fig.6).

<more>

I'm going to have to dig that journal out of the attic (if it's still there)...

:hi: