I found an article on the CBC website about the narwhals trapped in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. DFO say there are no conservation issues surrounding these whales and that sustainable quotas will not be exceeded by killing the trapped whales, though more than 200 will be killed. The edge of the ice floe is too far away for the whales to get out of the unfrozen section where they are trapped. DFO doesn't want to cut a path with a ship for the whales to get out. I'm not sure what I think about this situation. It is a very complex situation and is emotionally charged for me, much like the seal hunt. Though I respect the seal hunt a lot more now as one of the more humane ways that meat is acquired in this country, I kind of think that DFO should cut a path for these whales. Population data on these whales is somewhat ambiguous. The WWF info page about narwhals can be found here.The CBC article can be found here. Photo source is here.
1 comment:
i appreciate your sensitivity toward this issue as for most of us non-inuit it is complicated and emotional.
i am a dentist who travels to pond inlet several times per year and i had visited pond just after the cull was finished.
in speaking with many hunters i learned that the kill was not something taken lightly, the decision was made through a council of elders.
videos i have seen show the horrible state which the whales had been suffering in, the ice had closed tight enough that calves were literally being pushed out of the water by adults surfacing to breathe.
finally at the end of the kill there was enough meat to feed the village for months and the ivory sales made a generous contribution to the economy.
overall, while the killing of such numbers is sad and regrettable, it did a great deal of good or pond inlet.
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