Seymour Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Canada

Northern Canada

Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...

's territory of 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...

. A member of the Berkeley Islands group

Berkeley Islands

The Berkeley Islands are an uninhabited island group in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Canada's territory of Nunavut....

, it is located approximately 30 mi (48.3 km) north of northern Bathurst Island

Bathurst Island

A member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Bathurst Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The area of the island is estimated at , making it the 54th largest island in the world and Canada's 13th largest island. It is uninhabited.The island is low-lying with...

. Between Seymour Island and Bathurst Island lies Helena Island

Helena Island (Nunavut)

Helena Island is one of the uninhabited Canadian arctic islands located in Nunavut, Canada. It is along the northern coast of Bathurst Island, separated by Sir William Parker Strait. Seymour Island is located off its west coast...

. Penny Strait

Penny Strait

The Penny Strait is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It separates Bathurst Island from Devon Island . To the south and south-east, the strait opens into Queens Channel....

 is nearby.

Less than 3 km (1.9 mi) long, it rises approximately 28 m (91.9 ft) above sea level

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

, and is approximately 2 km² (0.77220431718507 sq mi) in size. The island is characterized by raised beaches, coastal sand dunes, gravel ridges, and freshwater ponds. Though polynya

Polynya

A polynya or polynia is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as geographical term for an area of unfrozen sea within the ice pack. It is a loanword from , , which means a natural ice hole, and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable...

s form in the area, the island is commonly ice locked.

Fauna and flora

Vegetation is sparse, consisting primarily of mosses and lichens.

The island is frequented by polar bear, and less commonly, the arctic wolf and arctic fox.

Birds include Brant Goose, Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

The Snowy Owl is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great...

, Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Skua

Long-tailed Skua

The Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicaudus is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae....

, Pomarine Skua

Pomarine Skua

The Pomarine Skua, Stercorarius pomarinus, known as Pomarine Jaeger in North America, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropical oceans.- Taxonomy :...

, and Common Raven

Common Raven

The Common Raven , also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids...

. Thayer's Gull

Thayer's Gull

The Thayer's Gull is a large gull native to North America that breeds in the Arctic islands of Canada and primarily winters on the Pacific coast, from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, though there are also wintering populations on the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River...

 and Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere and the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the USA, also on the Great...

 are to be found here also, but the island is most notable for Ivory Gull

Ivory Gull

The Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea is a small gull, the only species in its genus. It breeds in the high arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through Greenland, northernmost North America, and Eurasia.-Taxonomy:...

, found on Seymour Island from May to September. The gulls of Seymour Island breed on raised beaches unlike other Canadian Ivory Gull colonies. The island supports Canada’s largest known Ivory Gulls breeding colony, approximately 10-12 percent of the known Canadian population. In 2005, Gilchrist and Mallory postulated that Seymour Island gulls may represent forty percent of the surviving Canadian population of this species. The Seymour Island population represents approximately one percent of the world population of Ivory Gulls.

Protected areas

The Seymour Island Migratory Bird

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

 Sanctuary

Animal sanctuary

An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death...

, established in 1975, is 2800 hectares in size. It includes the island and surrounding waters. The migratory bird sanctuary is part of the Seymour Island 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...

(No. NU045). The island is also an International Biological Programme Site (No. 1-7), and a Key Marine Habitat Site in Nunavut (No. 2).