Bylot Island
Encyclopedia
Bylot Island lies off the northern end of Baffin Island
in Nunavut
Territory, Canada
. At 11067 km² (4,273 sq mi) it is ranked 71st largest island in the world and Canada's 17th largest island. It is also one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world. While there are no permanent settlements on this Canadian Arctic island, Inuit
from Pond Inlet
and elsewhere regularly travel to Bylot Island. An Inuit seasonal hunting camp is located southwest of Cape Graham Moore
.
The island's mountain
s are part of the Byam Martin Mountains
, which is part of the Baffin Mountains
of the Arctic Cordillera
. In addition to Angilaaq Mountain
, Malik Mountain, Mount St. Hans, and Mount Thule
are notable. Tay Bay is on the west coast. Vertical cliffs along the coastline are made up of Precambrian
dolomite
. There are numerous glaciers. The western shore faces Navy Board Inlet. The island's north shore, facing Lancaster Sound
, is a polar bear
maternity den area. Beluga, bowhead whale
, harp seal
, narwhal, and ringed seal
frequent the area.
The island is named for the Arctic
explorer Robert Bylot
, who was the first Europe
an to sight it in 1616. The whaling captain William Adams was the first to prove the island's insular nature in 1872.
, harbouring large populations of thick-billed murres
, Black-legged Kittiwake
s and greater snow geese
. The eastern area of the island is federally-designated as the Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary
. Three areas are classified as Canadian Important Bird Area
s: Cape Graham Moore, Cape Hay
, and the Southwest Bylot plain
.
, one of the Group of Seven
mid-century Canadian artists, was sold at auction for $2.8 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a work by a Canadian artist.
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
in Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
Territory, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. At 11067 km² (4,273 sq mi) it is ranked 71st largest island in the world and Canada's 17th largest island. It is also one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world. While there are no permanent settlements on this Canadian Arctic island, Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
from Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada and is located at the top of Baffin Island. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,315, an increase of 7.8% from the 2001 census making it the largest of the four hamlets above the 72nd parallel...
and elsewhere regularly travel to Bylot Island. An Inuit seasonal hunting camp is located southwest of Cape Graham Moore
Cape Graham Moore
thumb|right|200px|[[Kittiwake]]s at Cape Graham MooreCape Graham Moore is an uninhabited headland on Bylot Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located at the island's southeastern tip protruding into Lancaster Sound...
.
The island's mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s are part of the Byam Martin Mountains
Byam Martin Mountains
The Byam Martin Mountains are a rugged mountain range extending east to west across Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the most northern ranges in the world and is an extension of the Baffin Mountains which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera mountain system. The highest mountain in...
, which is part of the Baffin Mountains
Baffin Mountains
The Baffin Mountains are a mountain range running along the northeastern coast of Baffin Island and Bylot Island, Nunavut are part of the Arctic Cordillera. The ice-capped mountains are some of the highest peaks of eastern North America, reaching a height of above sea level...
of the Arctic Cordillera
Arctic Cordillera
The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northeasternmost part of the Labrador Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec, Canada...
. In addition to Angilaaq Mountain
Angilaaq Mountain
Angilaaq Mountain is a mountain in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located north of Pond Inlet. It is the highest mountain on Bylot Island and lies in the Byam Martin Mountains, which is a northern extension of the Baffin Mountains....
, Malik Mountain, Mount St. Hans, and Mount Thule
Mount Thule
Mount Thule is a mountain on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. It is located north of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. It is associated with the Baffin Mountains which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera mountain system.-References:...
are notable. Tay Bay is on the west coast. Vertical cliffs along the coastline are made up of Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
. There are numerous glaciers. The western shore faces Navy Board Inlet. The island's north shore, facing Lancaster Sound
Lancaster Sound
Lancaster Sound is a body of water in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern portion of the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay; to the west lies Viscount Melville Sound...
, is a polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
maternity den area. Beluga, bowhead whale
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
, harp seal
Harp Seal
The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. It now belongs to the monotypic genus Pagophilus. Its scientific name, Pagophilus groenlandicus, means "ice-lover from Greenland", and its synonym, Phoca...
, narwhal, and ringed seal
Ringed Seal
The ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...
frequent the area.
The island is named for the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer Robert Bylot
Robert Bylot
Robert Bylot was a 17th-century explorer who made four voyages to the Arctic. He was uneducated and from a working class background, but was able to rise to rank of Master in the British Royal Navy....
, who was the first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to sight it in 1616. The whaling captain William Adams was the first to prove the island's insular nature in 1872.
Protected areas
Almost all of the island is within the Sirmilik National ParkSirmilik National Park
Sirmilik National Park is a protected area located in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It was established in 2001. Situated within the Arctic Cordillera, it is composed of three areas: most of Bylot Island with the exception for a few areas that are Inuit-owned lands, Oliver Sound, and Baffin...
, harbouring large populations of thick-billed murres
Brünnich's Guillemot
The Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot is a bird in the auk family . This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich...
, Black-legged Kittiwake
Black-legged Kittiwake
The Black-legged Kittiwake is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Larus tridactylus....
s and greater snow geese
Snow Goose
The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed...
. The eastern area of the island is federally-designated as the Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary
Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary
The Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a migratory bird sanctuary in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. Located on Bylot Island, it was federally-designated on 1 January 1965, and is classified as Category IV by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.At 1,263,500 hectares, it is...
. Three areas are classified as Canadian Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
s: Cape Graham Moore, Cape Hay
Cape Hay
Cape Hay is an uninhabited headland on Bylot Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located at the island's northwestern tip, protruding into Lancaster Sound. The Wollaston Islands are offshore....
, and the Southwest Bylot plain
Southwest Bylot plain
The Southwest Bylot plain is an uninhabited plain in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in southwestern Bylot Island directly north of Eclipse Sound. Pond Inlet is the closest community...
.
Cultural references
In 2010, a painting of Bylot Island titled "Bylot Island I" by Lawren HarrisLawren Harris
Lawren Stewart Harris, CC was a Canadian painter. He was born in Brantford, Ontario and is best known as a member the Group of Seven who pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century. A. Y. Jackson has been quoted as saying that Harris provided the stimulus for the...
, one of the Group of Seven
Group of Seven (artists)
The Group of Seven, sometimes known as the Algonquin school, were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley...
mid-century Canadian artists, was sold at auction for $2.8 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a work by a Canadian artist.
Further reading
- Audet, Benoit, Gilles Gauthier, and Esther Levesque. 2007. "Feeding Ecology of Greater Snow Goose Goslings in Mesic Tundra on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada". The Condor. 109, no. 2: 361.
- Drury, W. H., and Mary B. Drury. The Bylot Island Expedition. [Lincoln, Mass.]: Massachusetts Audubon Society, 1955.
- Falconer, G. Glaciers of Northern Baffin and Bylot Islands, NWT. Ottawa: Geographical Branch, Dept. of Mines and Technical Surveys, 1962.
- Fortier, Daniel, Michel Allard, and Yuri Shur. 2007. "Observation of Rapid Drainage System Development by Thermal Erosion of Ice Wedges on Bylot Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago". Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. 18, no. 3: 229.
- Hofmann, H. J., and G. D. Jackson. Shale-Facies Microfossils from the Proterozoic Bylot Supergroup, Baffin Island, Canada. [Tulsa, OK]: Paleontological SocietyPaleontological SocietyThe Paleontological Society, formally the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland and was incorporated in April 1968 in the District of Columbia...
, 1994. - Klassen, R. A. Quaternary Geology and Glacial History of Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1993. ISBN 0660149893
- Scherman, KatharineKatharine SchermanKatharine Scherman Rosin was an American author of non-fiction. Born in New York, she was the daughter of Harry and Bernardine Scherman. She married Axel G. Rosin on April 10, 1943. She had two children, Karen and Susanna. She received a B.A from Swarthmore College in 1938...
(1956). Spring on an Arctic Island. Travel literature of a research trip to Bylot Island in 1954. - Tilman, W. H.Bill TilmanMajor Harold William "Bill" Tilman, CBE, DSO, MC and Bar was an English mountaineer and explorer, renowned for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages.-Early years and Africa:...
(1966). Mostly Mischief. An account of a crossing of Bylot Island in 1963.