Greenland hunting more killer whales as climate changes

Inuit in eastern Greenland have been hunting more killer whales as climate change leaves the area free of ice longer, says a Dane who recently posted a photo on Facebook of a hunter butchering a whale.

Thomas Bilde Belowlives in Copenhagen, buttravels to Greenland every year.

They have the long dorsal fin, he says of killer whales,or orca, so they couldnt come into ice areas before.

Below says thatthis year, hunters have caught one or two orcas, but 35 to 40 have been harvested in previous years.

The hunt usually begins in August and continues into October in the villages of Tasiilaq,Kuumiut,Kulusuk and Ittoqqortoormiit.

The hunters, he says, usually travelin small boats.

Theyre typically after seals, and sometimes they are lucky to spot an orca pod and then they go after them slowly, very slowly.

He says the hunters will shoot the whale, ideally just behind the blow hole Its a very sensitive place on the whaleusing a .30-06-calibre rifle. Just one whale is taken at a time.

The whales are then taken back to the villages,where the meat and muktak, or whale skin, is sold at the local market.

'One of the best whale meats I've ever tasted'

It doesnt have the same fishy taste that other whale meats. I think its one of the best whale meats Ive tasted ever, says Below.

He says themuktakprized by Inuitalso is tasty. He describes it as somewhere in between the fin whale,minkewhale and narwhal.

It has a very good taste. A bit salty, but still the smell also is quite different than other muktak.

Below posted a photofrom Greenland to the Facebook groupNunavut Hunting Stories, drawing several questions and comments from Canadian Inuitwho hunt beluga and a limited number ofbowheadwhales.

Below saysthe price the whales fetch is still quite low.

Killer whales as a whole are not considered endangered or threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The organizations current status for the animals is data deficient, partly because of the possibility that the whales may represent more than one species.

Because the whales were never hunted on a large commercial scale, they are not monitored by the International Whaling Commission.

Recent campaigns to protect killer whales have focused onfreeing the animals from captivity.