Possible killer whale sighting near Whapmagoostui, Que.

Some people in Whapmagoostui, Que., are wondering if a whale sighting over the weekend was in fact a killer whale.

The animal was spotted by Jordan Masty who was in a canoe with friends hunting waterfowl near Manitounik Sound, about 40 kilometres north of the Cree and Inuit sister communities of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik.

The settlement was once named Great Whale River, and is located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Grande Riviè​re de la Baleine.

Masty says the whale came right next to and under their boat.

"We were a little bit nervous, but not really scared," said Masty.

"It was a first time we had seen this kind of whale in our waters, but we were preparing ourselves, as we only had our shotguns with us."

Killer whales are rare in Hudson Bay, but climate change is making it easier for them to navigate into the waters to hunt beluga whales.

In September 2014, a pod of about 11 killer whales was spotted near Churchill, Man.  

Kuujjuarapik elder Alec Tuckatuck says in the 1960s an Inuit fishing party near Richmond Gulf was chased by a killer whale, but were able to outrun it to get to shore.

"Our rules for this kind of mammal is, 'Don't touch it, because it will not forget about what you will do to it if you will try to harm it,'" said Tuckatuck.

"With global warming, things are changing, even with polar bears and caribou."