Sometimes some things just defy the odds, which is exactly what happened when Aarron Pilakapsi, his wife, Corinne Pilakapsi, and their good friend, Jackie Ugjuk, of Rankin Inlet, hit the waves last week.
The trip, which took them to Marble Island, resulted in Ugjuk and Corinne each landing the first beluga whale either of them had ever successfully harvested.
Corinne, 48, laughed when asked if she was sure she waited long enough to land one.
She said even though she was pretty excited when she landed the whale, she isn't sure she'll be going out again anytime soon to try and land another one.
"I hadn't had any maqtaaq for awhile, so I went against tradition and ate my first catch," said Corinne. "You're not supposed to eat any of it.
"I'll probably end up being cursed now, but, oh well. It was cool that Jackie (Ugjuk) was with us and he got his first one too, but I'm not sure if he ate any of his or not."
Corinne's mother, Rose Tootoo, said she was very proud of her daughter landing her first beluga.
She said she couldn't believe it when she first saw a video of it on Facebook.
"Barney (Tootoo) and I cracked up watching the video because she looked like she was a little kid who just got a new toy," laughed Rose.
"She was saying that she was so scared that she was going to fall into the water and the whale was going to eat her.
"It was all pretty funny, but I'm really proud of her."
