Baffin Island
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Baffin Island (Inuktitut: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ, Qikiqtaaluk, French: Île de Baffin) is one of the Canadian Arctic islands in the territory of Nunavut. It is the largest island in Canada and is the fifth largest island in the world, with an area of 507 451 km² (195,928 sq mi). It has a population of 11,000 (2004). It is named for British explorer William Baffin. The island was known to the Norse as Helluland.
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[edit] Geography
The capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit, is located on the southern coast. Until 1987, the town shared the name Frobisher Bay with the bay in which it is located.
To the south lies Hudson Strait and Quebec on the mainland. To the east are Davis Strait and Baffin Bay and beyond them lies Greenland. On the West and North, Foxe Basin, the Gulf of Boothia and Lancaster Sound separate Baffin Island from the rest of the archipelago.
The island itself contains a rocky mountainous region, the highest peak being Mount Blanche (2,146 m). Another peak of note is Mount Asgard (2011 m) which is located in Auyuittuq National Park.
The Barnes icecap is found in the central part of the island and it has been in retreat since at least the early 1960s when the Geographical Branch of the then Department of Mines & Technical Surveys sent a three-man survey team to the area to measure isostatic rebound and cross-valley features of the Isortoq River.
[edit] Politics
Baffin Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region.
[edit] Communities (by size) (2001 population)
| Iqaluit | 5,236 |
| Pangnirtung | 1,276 |
| Pond Inlet | 1,220 |
| Clyde River | 785 |
| Arctic Bay | 646 |
| Kimmirut | 433 |
| Nanisivik | 77 |
Additionally, the communities of Qikiqtarjuaq and Cape Dorset are located on offshore islands.
[edit] Wildlife
Baffin Island has both year-round and summer visitor wildlife. On land, examples of year-round wildlife are barren-ground caribou, polar bear, arctic fox, arctic hare, lemming and arctic wolf.
Barren-ground caribou herds that migrate in a limited range from northern and mid- Baffin island down to the southern part in winter, and migrate back north in the summer, even to the southern Frobisher Bay peninsula, next to Resolution Island.
Polar bears can be found all along the coast of Baffin Island, but are most prevalent where the sea ice is located as pack ice, where their major food source lives: ringed seals (jar seal) and bearded seals. Polar bears mate approximately every year with from 1-3 cubs being born around March. Female polar bears may travel 10 - 20 km inland to find a large snow bank where they dig a den for the winter, and later birthing.
Arctic fox that can usually be found where polar bears venture on the fast ice close to land in their search for seals. Arctic foxes are scavengers, and often follow polar bears to get their leavings. On Baffin Island, arctic foxes are sometimes trapped by Inuit, but there is not a robust fur industry.
Arctic hare are found throughout Baffin island. Their fur is pure white in winter and molts to a scruffy dark grey in summer. Arctic hare, besides lemmings are a primary food source for arctic foxes and arctic wolves.
Lemmings are also found throughout the island, and are a major food source for arctic foxes, arctic wolves and the snowy owl. In the winter, lemmings dig complicated tunnel systems through the snow drifts in order to get to their food supply of dry grasses, and lichens.
The arctic wolf is also a year-round resident of Baffin Island. As opposed to the grey and brown wolves in the southern climes, arctic wolves often do not hunt in packs, although a male-female pair may hunt together.
In the water (or under the ice) the year-round visitors are mainly the ringed seal.
The ringed seal is a year-round resident of Baffin Island, where it lives off-shore within 8 km. of land. During the winter, it makes a number of breathing holes through ice up to 8 ft. thick by visiting each one often, and keeping the hole open and free from ice. In March, when a female is ready to whelp, she will enlarge one of the breathing holes that has snow over it, and create a small "igloo" where they whelp 1 or 2 pups. Within 3 weeks the pups are in the water and swimming. During the summer, ringed seals keep to a narrow territory approximately 3 km along the shoreline. If pack ice moves in, they may venture out 4-10 km and follow the pack ice, dragging themselves up on an ice floe to take advantage of the sun.
Summer land visitors to Baffin Island all have wings and all come to this island to nest. Baffin Island is one of the major nesting destinations from the Eastern and Mid-West flyways for all types of migrating fowl: the Canada goose, the snow goose and the brent goose (brant goose). Shore birds include the phalarope, various waders (commonly called sandpipers), murres such as Brünnich's guillemot and plovers. A variety of gull species also nest on Baffin Island: the glaucous gull, the herring gull and the ivory gull.
Long-range travellers include the arctic tern, which migrates from Antarctica every spring. The variety of water birds that nest here include coots, loons, mallards, and many other duck species.
Water species that visit Baffin Island in the summer are:
Harp seals (or saddle-backed seals), which migrate from major birthing grounds off the coast of Labrador and from a birthing ground off the south-east coast of Greenland to Baffin Island for the summer.[1] Migrating at speeds of 15–20 km/h, they all come up to breathe at the same time, then dive and swim up to 1–2 km before surfacing again. From their birthing grounds they migrate in large pods, that consist of a hundred or more seals, to within 1–8 km of the shoreline, which they then follow, feeding on crustaceans and fish.
Walrus, which actually do not migrate that far off land in the winter. They merely follow the "fast ice", or ice that is solidly attached to land, and stay ahead of it as the ice hardens further and further out to sea. As winter progresses, they will always remain where there is open water free of ice. When the ice melts, they move in to land and can be found basking on rocks close to shore. One of the largest walrus herds can be found in the Foxe Basin on the eastern side of Baffin Island.
Beluga or white whales are gentle creatures that migrate along the coast of Baffin Island as some head north to the feeding grounds in the Davis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, or into the Hudson Strait or any of the bays and estuaries in between. Usually travelling in pods of two or more, they can often be found very close to shore (100 m or less), where they come up to breathe every 30 seconds or so as they make their way along the coastline eating crustaceans.
Narwhals which are known by their one straight tusk or two twisted tusks (males only), can also be found along the coast of Baffin Island in the summer. Much like their beluga cousins they may be found in pairs or even in a large pod of ten or more males, females and newborns. They also can be often found close to the shoreline, gracefully pointing their tusks skyward as they come up for air. When they first arrive, the males arrive a few weeks ahead of the females and young.
The largest summer visitor to Baffin Island is the bowhead whale. Found throughout the Arctic range, one group of bowhead whales are known to migrate to the Foxe Basin, a bay on the eastern side of Baffin Island. It is still not known if they just visit for the lush sea bounty or calve in the Foxe Basin.
[edit] Climate
Most of Baffin Island lies above the Arctic Circle and all the communities from Pangnirtung north are subject to Polar night and the midnight sun. For example, the eastern community of Clyde River experiences continuous sunlight from May 14 to July 28, a period of 2½ months. In addition the long period from April 26 until May 13 and from July 29 until August 16 when twilight is the darkest part of the day means the community has just over 3½ months of light. In the winter the sun sets November 22 and does not rise again until January 19 of the next year. However, unlike places such as Alert, twilight occurs for at least 4 hours a day.
[edit] Sports & activities
Baffin Island is becoming popular amongst the BASE jumping community as a hotspot due to a wide array of 900 to 1,200 m (3,000 to 4,000 ft) tall cliffs scattered around the island.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Article regarding Baffin Island Fauna
- The Official Canadian Baffin Island website
- Baffin Island Today by Roz Tunis
