At the end of July, Joe Fitka went Beluga whale hunting down on the Bering Sea coast with Moe Duny, Mike Papp, and Dewayne Cooper. They left here around noon and made two quick stops along their way. It ended up taking them three and a half hours to Emmonak(Emo). When they got there they met up with a friend of theirs, Howie Johnson, who was to be their hunting guide. They stayed a night in Emo, then the next day packed up their equipment and continued on their journey out to sea.

It was Joe's first time out on the sea so it was more exciting for him than it was for the others. They spent a total of five days out hunting and brought back two Beluga whales, which were both caught by Mike Papp. Dewayne speared one but it sank. Joe said that as soon as Dewayne speared it, it went wild. They shot it over a dozen times, and it usually takes only one or two shots to kill a whale.

When they got back to Emo they stayed a night there, then left for Marshall. On their way up river they stopped and sold some of their muktuk in different villages. When they got here Joe said he was really tired, and also sick of smelling dead whale.

Story by: Joe Fitka

Interviewed by: Ben Peteroff