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Hundreds of Narwhals trapped in ice
As many as 400 tusked whales could be trapped in the ice north of Baffin Island, far more than originally estimated. The narwhals were spotted recently by Inuit hunters snowmobiling on sea ice in the area but estimates at the time suggested about 200 whales were trapped after ice moved in or formed quickly, preventing them from reaching open water.
Federal Fisheries and Oceans officials gave the Inuit in Pond Inlet the go-ahead to start killing the whales because they say nothing short of an icebreaker will save the animals from eventually drowning. Many animals have already been killed but many are still alive and seen surfacing to breathe. Inuit hunters harvest the narwhals with guns and the whale blubber is being sold to other Arctic communities. The ivory tusks are going to international buyers.
The open water is nearly 50 kilometres away and the third time in three years that whales have been trapped in the Arctic ice. In the last two years, beluga whales have been trapped in the sea ice near Tuktoyaktuk in the western Arctic.
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