Arctic Bay - Patience may not be the first thing that jumps to mind when describing a typical Grade 8 class, but a group of Inuujaq school students proved they had it during a couple of recent seal hunting trips.

Grade 8 students Leslie Oyukuluk, left, Addeline Akikuluk and Patty Levi smile in the sunshine on their second day of hunting baby seals. Their class from Inuujaq school spent time on the land learning the skill from a local hunter. -

"Their attitude was completely different out there than in school - they just bloomed," said cultural teacher Audrey Qamanirq, who accompanied the group on the land.

Nineteen students travelled out on the sea ice last week to learn the traditional skill of hunting baby seals with harpoons.

Led by local hunters Koonerk Enoogoo and Jeremy Attagutsiak, they were shown step by step how to locate the animals and handle a harpoon.

"We were having fun while learning about the hunting," said student Crystal Natanine.

It was her first time hunting baby seals, and although the group was ultimately unsuccessful in their hunt, "everything was surprising," she said.

Enoogoo demonstrated first how to locate the seal pup dens, or aglus, by the shape of the ice. Students then ran to the area he indicated, and used their heels to check if the ice was hollow, according to Qamanirq.

A thin metal rod was inserted into the centre of the ice, and students were instructed how to use their sense of smell to determine whether the den contained adult seals or pups.

"He then gave the students a harpoon and demonstrated how their body should be fixed," Qamanirq said.

This was when the real work of waiting began, while students stood around each aglu, watching carefully for a seal to emerge.

"We needed to be really quiet when we were standing," Natanine said.

For Bruno Attagutsiak - also a first-time baby seal hunter - the time still passed quickly "watching and learning."

Students also snacked on fish from Iglulik and bannock made by local mothers.

The exercise, which was funded by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, was a way to bring the class's current unit on Inuit Studies alive, according to their teacher.

"It was a learning experience, and for me too," Qamanirq said. "Even though we didn't catch any, it was still well worth going out."