The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 128

I tept BTTiTl mm ffflKB 12 WmUmI Mooatbt Apr. 10 1971 Soft It took a month but this expedition succeeded in bringing six elusive narwhal from Canada's far North back to the Vancouver Public Aquarium Story and photos by Tony Westman IN CANADA'S ARCTIC are most of the world's 10,000 narwhal, mammals which grow up to at least 16 feet long and 6,000 pounds; the males have long, straight tusks. They have been hunted by Eskimos for generations, but these members of the dolphin family have never been studied closely. For this reason, Vancouver Public Aquarium director Dr. Murray Newman organized a month-long, 12-member expedition to capture five narwhal and return them to Vancouver.

Our destination was Kaluktoo Bay, a 20-mile boat trip from Milne Inlet on the northeast coast of Baffin Island. This is the summer home of the elusive narwhal which inhabit the bay's warmer waters during August and September, possiblybecause it provides food and shelter for rearing their young. We encamped at the foot of some rocky hills, a few hundred yards from the water. All around us was lush tundra grass, fed by melting glaciers. Our tents were set up amid the ruins of an ancient Eskimo whaling camp with its cemetery of bleaching bones.

With our catching gear strewn all over the Continued To trap narwhal, Alan Best uses a net which expands on contact enveloping it (see The i v' i.