According to the CBC, locals have different theories about its source, and have attributed this "ping" or "hum" to a mining company that has operated nearby, or even to sabotage by Greenpeace. Both entities denied having anything to do with the phenomenon that hunters allege has made an area once teeming with wildlife a bit more barren over the course of the summer.

Although the Arctic has been increasingly opening up to mining operations, tourism, and military exercises, this pinging sound remains unexplained. Without anywhere else to turn, and with no leads on what's causing it, the Office of the Premier of Nunavut called on the Department of National Defence (DND) to investigate in October.

"The Department of National Defence has been informed of the strange noises emanating in the Fury and Hecla Straights area, and the Canadian Armed Forces are taking the appropriate steps to actively investigate the situation," DND spokesperson Evan Koronewski wrote me in an email.