Ukkusiksalik National Park
Encyclopedia
Ukkusiksalik National Park is a national park
in Nunavut
, Canada
.
Ukkusiksalik National Park is a 20500 square kilometres (7,915.1 sq mi) tundra
and coastal mudflat
region extending south of the Arctic Circle
and the hamlet of Repulse Bay
, from Hudson Bay
's Roes Welcome Sound
towards the western Barrenlands and the source of Brown River. The park surrounds Wager Bay
, a 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) long inlet on the Hudson Bay. Although the smallest of Nunavut's four national parks, it is the sixth largest in Canada. Its name relates to steatite
found there: Ukkusiksalik means "where there is material for the stone pot" (from ukkusik, meaning pot or saucepan like qulliq).
In addition to a reversing waterfall
and 500 archeological sites, including an old Hudson's Bay Company
(HBC) trading post
, the region is home to such species as polar bear
s, Grizzly Bear
s, the Arctic Wolf
, caribou
, seals
and Peregrine Falcon
s. Vegetation in the park is typical low tundra, with dwarf birch, willow and mountain avens
. Scattered patches of boreal forest
can be encountered in river valleys.
The park is uninhabited now, but the Inuit
lived there from 11th century to the 1960s. Remains of fox traps, tent rings, and food caches have been discovered in the area. The HBC had an operating trading post in the area from 1925 to 1947.
The park was created on August 23, 2003, becoming Canada's 41st national park, and the fourth in Nunavut
. It can be reached by flights from Winnipeg
, Manitoba
and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
.
Little is known about Wager Bay's early history, as until the 19th century the area was inhabited by Inuit who traditionally passed down their history by word-of-mouth.
There is, however, a remarkable quantity of stone relics, mainly tent rings from Thule people
, inuksuit
, caches and shelters which give evidence that the coast of Wager Bay was inhabited since thousands of years. About 500 archaeological sites have been identified within the last years as well from Dorset culture
(500 BC - 1000 AD), as from Thule culture
(1000 - 1800) and the last two centuries.
Barrenland Inuit (or Caribou Inuit
) were not a homogeneous tribe, but families of quite diverse groups:
In 1742, Christopher Middleton
on his sailing ship Furnace was the first Europe
an to enter the fjord
, which he could not leave for several weeks because of ice flow
.
He named the bay after Sir Charles Wager
, First Lord of the British Admiralty, and an inlet where he anchored Douglas Harbour after James and Henry Douglas, sponsors of his expedition. The Savage Islands nearby he named after "savage Eskimo
s" (wild Eskimos) he met there.
Middleton was not successful in his search for the Northwest Passage
, and neither was William Moore with his sloop
Discovery five years later. As the region was too far away from Europe and considered to be "useless", the bay was not mentioned or visited by outsiders for more than 100 years. In the 1860s, American
explorer Charles Francis Hall's
in a two-masted ship, Monticello, while searching for John Franklin
's lost Northwest Passage expedition of 1845
, reached Roes Welcome Sound in 1864 and had to overwinter at the mouth of Wager Bay.
In 1879, another American expedition led by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka
searching for John Franklin passed nearby Wager Bay by land. The region eventually became recognized when the fur trade
started there at the end of 19th century.
showed an interest in the Wager Bay region and sent geologist Albert Peter Low
on Neptune in order to establish Canada's sovereignty
over the Arctic north
.
At nearly the same time, in 1900, the American whaler
George G. Cleveland, working alone, established a whaling
station near the entrance of the bay, that operated for the next four years. Despite his closure of the station, Scottish
whalers for some time tried their luck to hunt marine mammal
s in the Wager area. Large iron harpoon
heads and other remnants are still found on the Savage Islands.
In 1910, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, precursor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
) set up a police post at Wager Bay coast, near Savage Islands. A police boat wreck, in a small inlet on the south-east shore of Wager Bay is testimony to the brief presence of police there.
In 1915, George Cleveland set up a temporary, and the region's first, trading post near the mouth of Wager Bay. In 1919, Cleveland now working for the HBC, again set up a trading post in the mouth of Wager Bay. It was transferring building materials for the establishment of the Repulse Bay HBC post. Situated at a favorable place at the northern end of Roes Welcome Sound this post became important for the company's intention to expand their business towards the north.
Alongside these local activities, the Hudson's Bay Company, during the first years of the 20th century, made great effort to get the fur trade under control. They started to build up a large and dense network of posts from the barrenlands of northwest Hudson Bay to the northern coast of the continent. According to those plans, a post at the outermost edge of Wager Bay should play a key role. That new post was meant to include the Ukkusiksalingmiut area to the Back River estuary, 250 km (155.3 mi) to the northwest, into the company's strategy, thereby, if ever possible, preventing commercial activities of competitors, Revillon Frères
, operating from their Baker Lake base. In the late summer of 1925, the two-masted schooner Fort Chesterfield entered the channel, and, following the advice of local Inuit, found a well protected inlet in Tusjujak (now Ford Lake, named after J. L. Ford, post manager in 1929) to establish their strategic station.
During the first years, things went quite well. Besides offering usual supply goods, the post supported the Inuit in general, and gave, as far as possible, medical assistance. Thus, it became a meeting point that allowed Inuit from distant camps to exchange news as well. In December 1929, twenty-two Inuit families were counted, 107 persons in total, camping in their igloo
s nearby. Soon later, fur trade stopped booming. Hudson's Bay Company changed their major post into an outpost in 1933 and entrusted an Inuk, Iqungajuq (Wager-Dick), with its management. He thereby got the chance to start his own business in the fur trade. Wager-Dick and his family lived in the post buildings and ran the outpost until 1946. The company was eventually successful with its strategy towards its competitor and bought Revillon Frères in 1936.
Catholic missionaries
, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
, who passed by in those years set up a small mission on one of Savage Islands, but never had great success and withdrew, when the activities of Hudson's Bay Company ended by mid-1940s and the Inuit had migrated into communities.
Some 30 years later, from 1979 to 1981, Inuit from Rankin Inlet tried to revive their former homeland, but without success.
In the autumn of 1986 and the spring of 1987, descendants of Inuit from the area built Sila Lodge at Wager Bay’s north coast. The lodge was only opened for a few weeks during the summertime to allow nature enthusiasts to stay in the area, which was in fact untouched for the rest of the year. Due to the high expenses of the flights, the owners could not maintain the lodge after 2002.
At Hudson Bay’s northwest corner, some 200 km (124.3 mi) northeast of Chesterfield Inlet, near the Capes Fullerton
and Kendall, is the entrance of Roes Welcome Sound, which extends northwards between the Barrenlands of the Kivalliq Region (meaning: border of the land) and Southampton Island
to Repulse Bay, where there is a settlement of that name, situated at the Arctic
circle. Wager Bay is an inlet of Roes Welcome Sound, pretty much in its geographical center, near Cape Dobbs.
Wager Bay is the core of the national park. Its entrance is a rather narrow bottleneck, it is more than 30 km (18.6 mi) long and approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide at its narrowest spot. The tide
s rise and fall up to 8 metres (26.2 ft) and currents
are extraordinary and cause large accumulations of ice masses during most of the year, often preventing the passage of watercraft. During early summer the rising flood water washes large quantities of drifting ice
and iceberg
s into the bay. These accumulate during ebb tide, close the bottleneck like a cork and may stay for hours or even days.
In some places, Wager Bay is more than 250 m (820.2 ft) deep. The fjord is up to 35 km (21.7 mi) wide and almost 200 km (124.3 mi) long, extending northwest into Kivalliq-Barrenlands. It reaches latitude 66°
, therefore some 40 km (24.9 mi) from the Arctic Circle.
Even at its western end, tides are impressive, between Wager Bay and the 2 km (1.2 mi) wide Ford Lake (Tusjujak in Inuktitut), so-called Reversing Falls occur. In Canada, only three of those phenomena are known, Reversing Falls
in New Brunswick
and Barrier Inlet, Hudson Strait
, Nunavut are the others. The strongest ones are in Norway
, 30 km (18.6 mi) east of Bodø
, Nordland
. They are called Saltstraumen
and considered world’s strongest tidal currents.
The soil of the area is characteristic of the Canadian Shield
.
's highest wind chill
and largest snowdrift
s. Due to this, the National Park is considered to be "high arctic".
A remarkable feature is that at the south shore of Wager Bay a steep mountain range
, gorged by former glacier
s, strongly influences the weather. Due to its proximity to Hudson Bay, drops in temperature and strong fog are normal during summertime, as blizzards are during early autumn. The bay is not completely free of ice before the end of July, although temperatures may range from cool to very warm between May and September.
According to actual zoological research, there live sixteen species of mammal
s in the park. At Wager Bay’s south shore is a large polar bear
denning area. Therefore in July and at the beginning of August, polar bears can be observed, from a boat, on floes, on islands or swimming from close up. Caribou
(Rangifer tarandus) and curious Arctic Ground Squirrel
s (Spermophilus parryii) come close to Sila Lodge. More rarely to be seen are the shy lemming
s (Lemmus sibiricus). Due to their camouflage, Arctic Fox
es (Alopex lagopus) and Arctic Hare
s (Lepus arcticus), are not easily spotted but are most likely seen when fleeing. Other animals seen occasionally include the Arctic Wolf
(Canis lupus arctos), the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), the Snowshoe Hare
(Lepus americanus) and the wolverine
(Gulo gulo).
Several species of marine mammal
s can be seen in the park’s area: Ringed Seal
s (Phoca hispida) and Bearded Seal
s (Erignathus barbatus) live here in large numbers, and from time to time a walrus
(Odobenus rosmarus), a Common Seal (Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina), a beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) or a narwhal
(Monodon monoceros) may appear in Wager Bay.
Only four species of fish have been reported up to now: Arctic char
(Salvelinus alpinus), lake trout
(Salvelinus namaycush), lumpfish
(Cyclopterus lumpus) and ninespine stickleback
(Pungitius pungitius).
Birders are able to observe up to forty species, including:
, bryophyte
and lecanorales
lichen
s grows a flora of 25 families of flowering plant
s. They are closely related to alpine flora
, but different. Following families and species are found:
Usually, the park can only be visited during a very few summer weeks, from the beginning of July until the beginning of August. Before that, Wager Bay has too much ice to be visited by boat, and in the autumn the Inuit say: "During summertime, you may watch polar bears. Afterwards, they will watch you!"
The place can almost only be reached by a hired plane – usually one would depart from Baker Lake, about 350 km (217.5 mi) away, where scheduled flights arrive from Rankin Inlet. Information can be obtained at Rankin Inlet's "Baker Lake Lodge". One might also approach by motorboat
from Repulse Bay, where Parks Canada
runs a station, but due to possible problems with ice this might take longer and therefore will only be considered by explorers or movie teams who have to bring a lot of equipment.
Until 2002, Sila Lodge was the base camp for all activities; an air strip for bush plane
s like the Twin Otter
is situated near the lodge.
From Sila Lodge, guided tours were offered, for instance boating tours to the Wager Bay islands, or to Ford Lake across the reversing falls, to the former Hudson's Bay Company outpost, or walks to the surrounding area, where one would find impressive relics of earlier settlements, such as tent rings, qarmaq
and Inuksuit, along with relics of the Hudson's Bay Company and Roman Catholic missions.
The following valleys, water falls and lakes can be reached by walking:
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
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...
, 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...
.
Ukkusiksalik National Park is a 20500 square kilometres (7,915.1 sq mi) tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
and coastal mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
region extending south of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
and the hamlet of Repulse Bay
Repulse Bay, Nunavut
Repulse Bay is an Inuit hamlet located on the shore of Hudson Bay, Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut, Canada.-Location and wildlife:The hamlet is located exactly on the Arctic Circle, on the north shore of Repulse Bay and on the south shore of the Rae Isthmus. Transport to the community is provided...
, from Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
's Roes Welcome Sound
Roes Welcome Sound
Roes Welcome Sound is an Arctic Ocean waterway in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Foxe Basin and opens north to Repulse Bay. It is situated between the mainland and Southampton Island, north of Marble Island. Roes Welcome Sound measures long, and wide.It is named after Sir...
towards the western Barrenlands and the source of Brown River. The park surrounds Wager Bay
Wager Bay
Wager Bay is a waterway in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Hudson Bay. Ukkusiksalik National Park surrounds it.Wager Bay was first charted by Christopher Middleton during his Arctic explorations of 1742....
, a 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) long inlet on the Hudson Bay. Although the smallest of Nunavut's four national parks, it is the sixth largest in Canada. Its name relates to steatite
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
found there: Ukkusiksalik means "where there is material for the stone pot" (from ukkusik, meaning pot or saucepan like qulliq).
In addition to a reversing waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
and 500 archeological sites, including an old Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
(HBC) trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
, the region is home to such species as 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...
s, Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
s, the Arctic Wolf
Arctic Wolf
The Arctic Wolf , also called Polar Wolf or White Wolf, is a subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a mammal of the family Canidae. Arctic Wolves inhabit the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and the northern parts of Greenland....
, caribou
Barren-ground Caribou
Barren-ground Caribou is a subspecies of the caribou that is found mainly in the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and western Greenland. It sometimes includes the similar porcupine caribou, in which case the barren-ground caribou also is found in Alaska...
, seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
and Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s. Vegetation in the park is typical low tundra, with dwarf birch, willow and mountain avens
Dryas octopetala
Dryas octopetala is an arctic-alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies, and is a popular flower in rock gardens...
. Scattered patches of boreal forest
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
can be encountered in river valleys.
The park is uninhabited now, but the 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...
lived there from 11th century to the 1960s. Remains of fox traps, tent rings, and food caches have been discovered in the area. The HBC had an operating trading post in the area from 1925 to 1947.
The park was created on August 23, 2003, becoming Canada's 41st national park, and the fourth 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...
. It can be reached by flights from Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
.
History
There is, however, a remarkable quantity of stone relics, mainly tent rings from Thule people
Thule people
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
, inuksuit
Inukshuk
An inuksuk is a stone landmark or cairn built by humans, used by the Inuit, Inupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found from Alaska to Greenland...
, caches and shelters which give evidence that the coast of Wager Bay was inhabited since thousands of years. About 500 archaeological sites have been identified within the last years as well from Dorset culture
Dorset culture
The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...
(500 BC - 1000 AD), as from Thule culture
Thule people
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
(1000 - 1800) and the last two centuries.
Barrenland Inuit (or Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W...
) were not a homogeneous tribe, but families of quite diverse groups:
- Ukkusiksalingmiut from Back RiverBack RiverThe Back River , is a river in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada...
and Hayes RiverHayes RiverThe Hayes River is a river in Northern Region, Manitoba, Canada that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was an historically important river in the development of Canada, and is today a Canadian Heritage River and the longest naturally flowing river in Manitoba.-Course:The...
regions - AivilingmiutAivilingmiutThe Aivilingmiut are an Inuit people who traditionally have resided north of Hudson Bay in Canada, near Naujaat , Chesterfield Inlet, Southampton Island, and Cape Fullerton. They are descendants of the Thule people and are considered a southern subgroup of the Iglulik Inuit...
from Repulse Bay region, - Qairnirmiut from Baker LakeBaker Lake, NunavutBaker Lake , is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being the Canadian Arctic's sole inland community...
and Chesterfield InletChesterfield Inlet, NunavutThe community of Chesterfield Inlet is located on the western shore of Hudson Bay, Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut Canada at the mouth of Chesterfield Inlet. Igluligaarjuk is the Inuktitut word for "place with few houses", it is the oldest community in Nunavut...
regions - Netsilik InuitNetsilik InuitThe Netsilik Inuit live predominantly in the communities of Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region...
(Natsilingmiut) [Inuktitut doesn't have "e" and "o"] from around KugaarukKugaaruk, Nunavut-Culture:The historical inhabitants were Arviligjuarmiut. Kugaaruk is a traditional "Central Inuit" community. Until 1968, the people followed a nomadic lifestyle. The population is approximately 97% Inuit and most people self-identify as Netsilik Inuit. The residents blend a land based lifestyle...
and TaloyoakTaloyoak, NunavutTaloyoak or Talurjuaq is located on the Boothia Peninsula, Kitikmeot, in Canada's Nunavut Territory. The community is served only by air and by annual supply sealift. Taloyoak may mean "large blind", referring to a stone caribou blind or a screen used for caribou hunting...
.
First Europeans
Christopher Middleton (navigator)
Christopher Middleton was an English naval officer and navigator. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 7 April 1737....
on his sailing ship Furnace 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 enter the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
, which he could not leave for several weeks because of ice flow
Ice stream
An ice stream is a region of an ice sheet that moves significantly faster than the surrounding ice. Ice streams are a type of glacier. They are significant features of the Antarctic where they account for 10% of the volume of the ice...
.
He named the bay after Sir Charles Wager
Charles Wager
Sir Charles Wager was a British Admiral and First Lord of the Admiralty between 1733 and 1742.Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, Wager's reputation has suffered from a profoundly mistaken idea that the navy was then at a low ebb...
, First Lord of the British Admiralty, and an inlet where he anchored Douglas Harbour after James and Henry Douglas, sponsors of his expedition. The Savage Islands nearby he named after "savage Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
s" (wild Eskimos) he met there.
Middleton was not successful in his search for the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
, and neither was William Moore with his sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Discovery five years later. As the region was too far away from Europe and considered to be "useless", the bay was not mentioned or visited by outsiders for more than 100 years. In the 1860s, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
explorer Charles Francis Hall's
Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall was an American Arctic explorer. Little is known of Hall's early life. He was born in the state of Vermont, but while he was still a child his family moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where, as a boy, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith. In the 1840s he married and drifted...
in a two-masted ship, Monticello, while searching for John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
's lost Northwest Passage expedition of 1845
Franklin's lost expedition
Franklin's lost expedition was a doomed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the latter two as commanding officer...
, reached Roes Welcome Sound in 1864 and had to overwinter at the mouth of Wager Bay.
In 1879, another American expedition led by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka
Frederick Schwatka
Frederick Gustavus Schwatka was a United States Army lieutenant with degrees in medicine and law and a noted explorer of northern Canada and Alaska.-Early life and career:...
searching for John Franklin passed nearby Wager Bay by land. The region eventually became recognized when the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
started there at the end of 19th century.
Early 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Canadian governmentGovernment of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
showed an interest in the Wager Bay region and sent geologist Albert Peter Low
Albert Peter Low
Albert Peter Low was a Canadian geologist, explorer and athlete. His explorations of 1893–1895 were important in declaring Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic, and eventually defining the border between Quebec and Labrador....
on Neptune in order to establish Canada's sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
over the Arctic north
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...
.
At nearly the same time, in 1900, the American whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
George G. Cleveland, working alone, established a whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
station near the entrance of the bay, that operated for the next four years. Despite his closure of the station, Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
whalers for some time tried their luck to hunt marine mammal
Marine mammal
Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...
s in the Wager area. Large iron harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
heads and other remnants are still found on the Savage Islands.
In 1910, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP, precursor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
) set up a police post at Wager Bay coast, near Savage Islands. A police boat wreck, in a small inlet on the south-east shore of Wager Bay is testimony to the brief presence of police there.
In 1915, George Cleveland set up a temporary, and the region's first, trading post near the mouth of Wager Bay. In 1919, Cleveland now working for the HBC, again set up a trading post in the mouth of Wager Bay. It was transferring building materials for the establishment of the Repulse Bay HBC post. Situated at a favorable place at the northern end of Roes Welcome Sound this post became important for the company's intention to expand their business towards the north.
Hudson's Bay Company station at Ford Lake
Revillon Freres
Révillon Frères was a French fur and luxury goods company, founded in 1723.At the end of the 19th century, Revillon had stores in Paris, London, New York, and Montreal. -Fur trading operation:...
, operating from their Baker Lake base. In the late summer of 1925, the two-masted schooner Fort Chesterfield entered the channel, and, following the advice of local Inuit, found a well protected inlet in Tusjujak (now Ford Lake, named after J. L. Ford, post manager in 1929) to establish their strategic station.
During the first years, things went quite well. Besides offering usual supply goods, the post supported the Inuit in general, and gave, as far as possible, medical assistance. Thus, it became a meeting point that allowed Inuit from distant camps to exchange news as well. In December 1929, twenty-two Inuit families were counted, 107 persons in total, camping in their igloo
Igloo
An igloo or snowhouse is a type of shelter built of snow, originally built by the Inuit....
s nearby. Soon later, fur trade stopped booming. Hudson's Bay Company changed their major post into an outpost in 1933 and entrusted an Inuk, Iqungajuq (Wager-Dick), with its management. He thereby got the chance to start his own business in the fur trade. Wager-Dick and his family lived in the post buildings and ran the outpost until 1946. The company was eventually successful with its strategy towards its competitor and bought Revillon Frères in 1936.
Catholic missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, 1782. The congregation was given recognition by Pope...
, who passed by in those years set up a small mission on one of Savage Islands, but never had great success and withdrew, when the activities of Hudson's Bay Company ended by mid-1940s and the Inuit had migrated into communities.
Presence
In the autumn of 1986 and the spring of 1987, descendants of Inuit from the area built Sila Lodge at Wager Bay’s north coast. The lodge was only opened for a few weeks during the summertime to allow nature enthusiasts to stay in the area, which was in fact untouched for the rest of the year. Due to the high expenses of the flights, the owners could not maintain the lodge after 2002.
Landscape
Cape Fullerton
Cape Fullerton is a cape and peninsula in Nunavut, Canada located on the northwest shores of Hudson Bay on Roes Welcome Sound and includes Fullerton Harbour...
and Kendall, is the entrance of Roes Welcome Sound, which extends northwards between the Barrenlands of the Kivalliq Region (meaning: border of the land) and Southampton Island
Southampton Island
Southampton Island is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of the island is stated as by Statistics Canada . It is the 34th largest...
to Repulse Bay, where there is a settlement of that name, situated at 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...
circle. Wager Bay is an inlet of Roes Welcome Sound, pretty much in its geographical center, near Cape Dobbs.
Wager Bay is the core of the national park. Its entrance is a rather narrow bottleneck, it is more than 30 km (18.6 mi) long and approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide at its narrowest spot. The tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
s rise and fall up to 8 metres (26.2 ft) and currents
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
are extraordinary and cause large accumulations of ice masses during most of the year, often preventing the passage of watercraft. During early summer the rising flood water washes large quantities of drifting ice
Drift ice
Drift ice is ice that floats on the surface of the water in cold regions, as opposed to fast ice, which is attached to a shore. Usually drift ice is carried along by winds and sea currents, hence its name, "drift ice"....
and iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s into the bay. These accumulate during ebb tide, close the bottleneck like a cork and may stay for hours or even days.
In some places, Wager Bay is more than 250 m (820.2 ft) deep. The fjord is up to 35 km (21.7 mi) wide and almost 200 km (124.3 mi) long, extending northwest into Kivalliq-Barrenlands. It reaches latitude 66°
66th parallel north
The 66th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 66 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane, about 61km south of the Arctic Circle. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Asia and North America....
, therefore some 40 km (24.9 mi) from the Arctic Circle.
Even at its western end, tides are impressive, between Wager Bay and the 2 km (1.2 mi) wide Ford Lake (Tusjujak in Inuktitut), so-called Reversing Falls occur. In Canada, only three of those phenomena are known, Reversing Falls
Reversing Falls
The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy....
in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and Barrier Inlet, Hudson Strait
Hudson Strait
Hudson Strait links the Atlantic Ocean to Hudson Bay in Canada. It lies between Baffin Island and the northern coast of Quebec, its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley and Resolution Island. It is long...
, Nunavut are the others. The strongest ones are in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, 30 km (18.6 mi) east of Bodø
Bodø
is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
, Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...
. They are called Saltstraumen
Saltstraumen
Saltstraumen is a sound with a strong tidal current located in Nordland 30 km east of the city of Bodø, Norway. The narrow channel connects the outer Saltfjord with its extension, the large Skjerstadfjord. It is the strongest tidal current in the world...
and considered world’s strongest tidal currents.
The soil of the area is characteristic of the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
.
Climate
The prevailing climate is arctic-maritime; relatively little precipitation, low temperatures, and strong winds. It has North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
's highest wind chill
Wind chill
Wind chill is the felt air temperature on exposed skin due to wind. The wind chill temperature is always lower than the air temperature, and the windchill is undefined at the higher temps...
and largest snowdrift
Snowdrift
A snowdrift is a deposit of snow sculpted by wind into a mound during a snowstorm. Snowdrifts resemble sand dunes and are formed in a similar manner, namely, by wind moving light snow and depositing it when the wind is slowed, usually against a stationary object. Snow normally crests and slopes...
s. Due to this, the National Park is considered to be "high arctic".
A remarkable feature is that at the south shore of Wager Bay a steep mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
, gorged by former glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, strongly influences the weather. Due to its proximity to Hudson Bay, drops in temperature and strong fog are normal during summertime, as blizzards are during early autumn. The bay is not completely free of ice before the end of July, although temperatures may range from cool to very warm between May and September.
Fauna
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s in the park. At Wager Bay’s south shore is a large 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...
denning area. Therefore in July and at the beginning of August, polar bears can be observed, from a boat, on floes, on islands or swimming from close up. Caribou
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
(Rangifer tarandus) and curious Arctic Ground Squirrel
Arctic Ground Squirrel
The Arctic ground squirrel is a species of ground squirrel native to the Arctic.-Subspecies:Listed alphabetically.*S. p. ablusus Osgood, 1903...
s (Spermophilus parryii) come close to Sila Lodge. More rarely to be seen are the shy lemming
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
s (Lemmus sibiricus). Due to their camouflage, Arctic Fox
Arctic fox
The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
es (Alopex lagopus) and Arctic Hare
Arctic Hare
The arctic hare , or polar rabbit is a species of hare which is adapted largely to polar and mountainous habitats. The arctic hare survives with a thick coat of fur and usually digs holes under the ground or snow to keep warm and sleep...
s (Lepus arcticus), are not easily spotted but are most likely seen when fleeing. Other animals seen occasionally include the Arctic Wolf
Arctic Wolf
The Arctic Wolf , also called Polar Wolf or White Wolf, is a subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a mammal of the family Canidae. Arctic Wolves inhabit the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and the northern parts of Greenland....
(Canis lupus arctos), the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), the Snowshoe Hare
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...
(Lepus americanus) and the wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
(Gulo gulo).
Several species of marine mammal
Marine mammal
Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...
s can be seen in the park’s area: 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...
s (Phoca hispida) and Bearded Seal
Bearded Seal
The bearded seal , also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words that refer to its heavy jaw...
s (Erignathus barbatus) live here in large numbers, and from time to time a walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
(Odobenus rosmarus), a Common Seal (Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina), a beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) or a narwhal
Narwhal
The narwhal, Monodon monoceros, is a medium-sized toothed whale that lives year-round in the Arctic. One of two living species of whale in the Monodontidae family, along with the beluga whale, the narwhal males are distinguished by a characteristic long, straight, helical tusk extending from their...
(Monodon monoceros) may appear in Wager Bay.
Only four species of fish have been reported up to now: Arctic char
Arctic char
Arctic char or Arctic charr is both a freshwater and saltwater fish in the Salmonidae family, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic and alpine lakes and coastal waters. No other freshwater fish is found as far north. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic...
(Salvelinus alpinus), lake trout
Lake trout
Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...
(Salvelinus namaycush), lumpfish
Lumpsucker
Lumpsuckers or lumpfish are mostly small scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans...
(Cyclopterus lumpus) and ninespine stickleback
Ninespine stickleback
The ninespine stickleback , also called the ten-spined stickleback, is a freshwater species of fish in the Gasterosteidae family that inhabits temperate waters...
(Pungitius pungitius).
Birders are able to observe up to forty species, including:
- Birds of prey (FalconiformesFalconiformesThe order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that comprises the diurnal birds of prey. Raptor classification is difficult and the order is treated in several ways.- Classification problems :...
)- Golden EagleGolden EagleThe Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
(Aquila chrysaetos) - GyrfalconGyrfalconThe Gyrfalcon — Falco rusticolus — is the largest of the falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and the islands of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly resident there also, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter.Individual vagrancy...
(Falco rusticolus, bird of the Northwest Territories) - Peregrine FalconPeregrine FalconThe Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
(Falco peregrinus) - Rough-legged HawkRough-legged BuzzardThe Rough-legged Buzzard , called the Rough-legged Hawk in North America, is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Eurasia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter.The species exhibits a wide variety of plumage patterns...
(Buteo lagopus)
- Golden Eagle
- WaterfowlWaterfowlWaterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
- Common EiderCommon EiderThe Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on...
(Somateria mollissima) - King EiderKing EiderThe King Eider is a large sea duck that breeds along northern hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July...
(Somateria spectabilis) - OldsquawLong-tailed DuckThe Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw is a medium-sized sea duck. It is the only living member of its genus, Clangula; this was formerly used for the goldeneyes, with the Long-tailed Duck being placed in Harelda...
(Clangula hyemalis) - Northern PintailNorthern PintailThe Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator...
(Anas acuta) - Canada GooseCanada GooseThe Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....
(Branta Canadensis) - Snow GooseSnow GooseThe 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...
(Chen caerulescens) - Brant Goose (Branta bernicla)
- Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer)
- Yellow-billed LoonYellow-billed LoonThe Yellow-billed Loon , also known as the White-billed Diver, is the largest member of the loon or diver family. Breeding adults have a black head, white underparts and chequered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding plumage is drabber with the chin and foreneck white...
(Gavia Adamsii) - Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)
- Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
- Glaucous GullGlaucous GullThe 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...
(Larus hyperboreus) - Ivory GullIvory GullThe 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:...
(Pagophila eburnea) - Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
- Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
- Thayer's GullThayer's GullThe 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...
(Larus thayeri) - Black GuillemotBlack GuillemotThe Black Guillemot or Tystie is a medium-sized alcid.Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill, and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large...
(Cepphus grylle) - Arctic TernArctic TernThe Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
(Sterna paradisaea) - Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)
- Common Eider
- Other ground nesting birds
- SanderlingSanderlingThe Sanderling is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia...
(Calidris alba) - Baird's SandpiperBaird's SandpiperThe Baird's Sandpiper is a small shorebird. It is among those calidrids sometimes separated in Erolia.Adults have black legs and a short thin dark bill. They are dark brown on top and mainly white underneath with a black patch on the rump. The head and breast are light brown with dark streaks. In...
(Calidris Bairdii) - Pectoral SandpiperPectoral SandpiperThe Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, is a small wader. It is sometimes separated with the "stint" sandpipers in Erolia. This may or may not represent a good monophyletic group, depending on the placement of the phylogenetically enigmatic Curlew Sandpiper , the type species of Erolia...
(Calidris melanotos) - Semipalmated SandpiperSemipalmated SandpiperThe Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla, is a very small shorebird. It is sometimes separated with other "stints" in Erolia but although these apparently form a monophyletic group, the present species' old genus Ereunetes had been proposed before Erolia.Adults have black legs and a short stout...
(Calidris pusilla) - White-rumped SandpiperWhite-rumped SandpiperThe White-rumped Sandpiper is a small shorebird.Adults have black legs and a small thin dark bill. The body is dark brown on top and mainly white underneath, with brown streaks on the breast and a white rump. They have a white stripe over their eyes. This bird shows long wings in flight. In winter...
(Calidris fuscicollis) - Semipalmated PloverSemipalmated PloverThe Semipalmated Plover is a small plover.This species weighs and measures in length and across the wings. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband...
(Charadrius semipalmatus) - American Golden PloverAmerican Golden PloverThe American Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.Adults are spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Their face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black....
(Pluvialis Dominica) - Snow BuntingSnow BuntingThe Snow Bunting , sometimes colloquially called a snowflake, is a passerine bird in the longspur family Calcariidae. It is an arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere...
(Plectrophenax nivalis) - Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)
- Common RavenCommon RavenThe 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...
(Corvus corax) - Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta, bird of NunavutSymbols of NunavutNunavut is one of Canada's territories, and has established several territorial symbols.-Symbols of nunavut:# "Qimmiq" or "qimmik" is the Inuit language word for "dog"...
) - Willow PtarmiganWillow GrouseThe Willow Ptarmigan , also known as the Willow Grouse, is a bird of the grouse subfamily. It is a sedentary species, breeding in birch and other forests and moorlands in the tundra of Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, in particular the province of Newfoundland and Labrador...
(Lagopus lagopus) - Sandhill CraneSandhill CraneThe Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...
(Grus canadensis) - Horned LarkShore LarkThe Shore Lark , called the Horned Lark in North America, is a species of bird in the genus Eremophila.- Description :...
(Eremophila alpestris) - Snowy OwlSnowy OwlThe 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...
(Bubo scandiacus) - Water PipitWater PipitThe Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta, is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of southern Europe and southern temperate Asia across to China. It is a short-distance migrant moving to wet open lowlands such as marshes and flooded fields in winter...
(Antus spinoletta)
- Sanderling
Flora
On the one hand, the national park is a typical rocky tundra area, on the other hand, beneath algaeAlgae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
, bryophyte
Bryophyte
Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...
and lecanorales
Lecanorales
The Lecanorales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The order contains 26 families, 269 genera, and 5695...
lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s grows a flora of 25 families of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s. They are closely related to alpine flora
Alpine plant
Alpine plants are plants that grow in the alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. Alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra.-Alpine plant diversity:...
, but different. Following families and species are found:
- Birch familyBetulaceaeBetulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams, numbering about 130 species...
(Betulaceae) - Dwarf Birch (Betula nana), American Dwarf Birch (Betula glandulosa) - Bladderwort familyLentibulariaceaeLentibulariaceae is a family of carnivorous plants containing three genera, Genlisea, the corkscrew plants, Pinguicula, the butterworts, and Utricularia, the bladderworts....
(Lentibulariaceae) - Common ButterwortPinguicula vulgarisPinguicula vulgaris, the Common butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous plant in the Lentibulariaceae family. It grows to a height of 3–16 cm, and is topped with a purple, and occasionally white, flower that is 15 mm or longer, and shaped like a funnel. This butterwort grows in damp...
(Pinguicula vulgaris) - Bluebell familyCampanulaceaeThe family Campanulaceae , of the order Asterales, contains about 2000 species in 70 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky non-toxic sap...
(Campanulaceae) – BluebellCampanulaCampanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell"....
(Campanula uniflora) - Borage familyBoraginaceaeBoraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....
(Boraginaceae) - Sea LungwortMertensiaMertensia is a genus of about 40 species of perennial herbaceous plants with bell-shaped blue flowers opening from pink-tinged buds. This is one of several plants commonly called bluebell.The genus is named after the German botanist Franz Carl Mertens....
(Mertensia maritima) - Buckwheat familyPolygonaceaePolygonaceae is a family of flowering plants known informally as the "knotweed family" or "smartweed family"— "buckwheat family" in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name refers...
(Polygonaceae) – Alpine BistortAlpine BistortPolygonum viviparum , commonly known as Alpine Bistort, is common all over the high Arctic. It stretches further south in high mountainous areas like the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Caucasus and the Tibetan Plateau.It grows to 5-15 cm tall with a thick rootstock...
(Polygonum viviparum), Mountain SorrelOxyria digynaOxyria digyna a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is common in the tundra of Arctic...
(Oxyria digyna) - Buttercup familyRanunculaceaeRanunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....
(Ranunculaceae) - Birdfoot Buttercup (Ranunculus pedatifidus), Pygmy ButtercupRanunculus pygmaeusRanunculus pygmaeus is a species of buttercup found throughout the Arctic, as well as in the mountains of Norway and the Rocky Mountains. A few populations also exist in the Eastern Alps and Tatra Mountains.It is a small plant, prostrate-ascending, 1-5 cm tall...
(Ranunculus pygmaeus) - ClubmossesLycopodiaceaeThe Lycopodiaceae is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives...
(Lycopodiaceae) - Mountain ClubmossLycopodiumLycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines or creeping cedar, in the family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies...
(Lycopodium selago) - Crowberry familyEricaceaeThe Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...
(Ericaceae) – CrowberryCrowberryCrowberry is a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to subarctic climates, and also in the Southern Andes of South America and on the South Atlantic islands of South Georgia, the Falklands and Tristan da...
(Empetrum nigrumEmpetrum nigrumEmpetrum nigrum is a species of crowberry known as black crowberry which is native to most northern areas of the northern hemisphere, as well as the Falkland Islands in the southern hemisphere....
) - Daisy familyAsteraceaeThe Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
(Asteraceae) - Alpine DaisyArnicaArnica is a genus with about 30 perennial, herbaceous species, belonging to the sunflower family . The genus name Arnica may be derived from the Greek arna, "lamb", in reference to the soft, hairy leaves....
(Arnica alpina), Arctic Daisy (Dendranthema arcticum), Lacerate Dandelion (Taraxacum lacerum), Mastodon Flower (Senecio congestusSenecio congestusSenecio congestus, also known by its common names Swamp Ragwort, Northern Swamp Groundsel, Marsh Fleabane, Marsh Fleawort, Clustered Marsh Ragwort and Mastodon Flower, a herbaceous member of the Asteraceae family and the Senecio genus, can be seen most easily when its bright yellow umbel flowers...
), Pussy-ToesAntennariaAntennaria is a genus of about 45 species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with one species in temperate southern South America; the highest species diversity is in North America...
(Antennaria ssp.), Sea-Shore Chamomile (Matricaria ambigua), Wormwood (Artemisia borealis) - Diapensia familyDiapensiaceaeDiapensiaceae is a small family of flowering plants, comprising 12 species in five genera. Three of the genera, Berneuxia, Galax, and Pyxidanthera, contain only a single species. The Asian species of Shortia were formerly separated as the genus Schizocodon, and some authors still recognize S....
(Diapensiaceae) – DiapensiaDiapensiaDiapensia lapponica is a plant in the family Diapensiaceae, the only circumpolar species in the genus Diapensia, the others being mainly in the Himalayas. It is a circumboreal arctic-alpine species which grows on exposed rocky ridges that are kept free from snow by high winds .It is a small...
(Diapensia lapponica) - FernFernA fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s (PolypodiaceaePolypodiaceaePolypodiaceae is a family of polypod ferns, which includes more than 60 genera divided into several tribes and containing around 1,000 species. Nearly all are epiphytes, but some are terrestrial.-Description:...
) - Fragrant Shield Fern (Dryopteris fragrans) - Figwort familyScrophulariaceaeScrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral or rarely radial symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including...
(Scrophulariaceae) - Arctic Lousewort (Pedicularis arctica), Hairy Lousewort (Pedicularis hirsuta), Labrador lousewort (Pedicularis labradorica), Lapland Lousewort (Pedicularis lapponica), Sudeten Lousewort (Pedicularis sudetica) - GrassesPoaceaeThe Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
(Poaceae or Gramineae) - Alpine Fescue (Festuca brachyphylla), BluegrassPoaPoa is a genus of about 500 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass , bluegrass , tussock , and speargrass. "Poa" is Greek for fodder...
(Poa alpina), Reed-Bentgrass (Calamagrostis lapponicaCalamagrostisCalamagrostis, or Small-reed or Reedgrass, is a genus in the Grass family Poaceae with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of Calamagrostis generally occur at higher elevations in...
), Sea Lyme-Grass (Elymus arenarius), Spike Trisetum (Trisetum spicatum), Wild BarleyHordeum jubatumHordeum jubatum is a perennials plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in...
(Foxtail barley, Hordeum jubatum)
- Heath familyEricaceaeThe Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...
(Ericaceae) - Arctic Bell Heather (Cassiope tetragonal), Black Bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina), BilberryVaccinium uliginosumVaccinium uliginosum is a flowering plant in the genus Vaccinium.-Distribution:Vaccinium uliginosum is native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, at low altitudes in the Arctic, and at high altitudes south to the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Caucasus in Europe, the mountains of...
(Bog Bilberry or Northern Bilberry, Vaccinium uliginosum), Bog-rosemaryBog-rosemaryAndromeda polifolia, commonly known as Bog-rosemary, is a heath found across northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of its genus. Bog rosemary is only found in bogs in cold peat-accumulating areas....
(Andromeda polifolia), Lapland Rose-Bay (Rhododendron lapponicum), Labrador teaLabrador teaLabrador tea is a name commonly applied to three closely related species:* Rhododendron tomentosum ,...
(Ledum decumbensLedumLedum is a genus name formerly widely recognised in the family Ericaceae, including 8 species of evergreen shrubs native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and commonly known as Labrador Tea....
), Mountain cranberryVaccinium vitis-idaeaVaccinium vitis-idaea is a short evergreen shrub in the heath family that bears edible sour fruit, native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. In the past it was seldom cultivated, but fruit was commonly collected in the wild. ...
(Vaccinium vitis-idaea) - Horsetails (Equisetum) - HorsetailEquisetum arvenseEquisetum arvense, commonly known as the Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail, is a rather bushy perennial with a rhizomatous stem formation native to the northern hemisphere. These horsetails may have sterile or fertile stems. Sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted...
(Equisetum arvense) - Leadwort familyPlumbaginaceaePlumbaginaceae is a family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family....
(Plumbaginaceae) - ThriftArmeria maritimaArmeria maritima is the botanical name for a species of flowering plant.It is a popular garden flower, known by several common names, including thrift, sea thrift, and sea pink. The plant has been distributed worldwide as a garden and cut flower...
(Armeria maritime) - Lily familyLiliaceaeThe Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes. Several have bulbs, while others have rhizomes...
(MelanthiaceaeMelanthiaceaeMelanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere. The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied...
) - False Bog Asphodel (Tofieldia pusilla) - Mustard familyBrassicaceaeBrassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....
(Brassicaceae or Cruciferae) - Arctic Bladderpod (Lesquerella arcticaLesquerellaLesquerella is a genus of flowering plants in the familyBrassicaceae. Some are referred to by the common name Bladderpod and bladderpod oil is extracted from the seeds of Lesquerella fendleri and certain other species in the genus....
) - Pea familyFabaceaeThe Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
(Fabaceae, FaboideaeFaboideaeFaboideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. One acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae....
) - Alpine milk vetch (Astragalus alpinusAstragalusAstragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
), Arctic Oxytrope (Oxytropis arcticaOxytropisOxytropis is a genus of plants in the legume family. It is one of two genera of plants known as locoweeds, and are notorious for being toxic to grazing animals. The other locoweed genus is the closely related Astragalus. There are about 300 species native to Eurasia and North America. Several...
), Blue Oxytrope (Oxytropis arctobia), Liquorice-Root (Eskimo Potato) (Hedysarum alpinumHedysarumHedysarum is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 309 species of annual or perennial herbs in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.-Description:...
), Sweet Vetch (Hedysarum Mackenziei), Yellow Oxytrope (Oxytropis maydelliana) - Pink familyCaryophyllaceaeThe Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
(Caryophyllaceae) - Arctic bladder campion (Melandrium affine), Knotted PearlwortSagina nodosaSagina nodosa is a species in the genus Sagina, native to northern Europe. It is a low-growing plant up to 15 cm tall, with paired leaves up to 1 cm long. The flowers are 5–10 mm diameter, with five white petals....
(Sagina nodosa), moss campion (Silene acaulis), Mouse-Ear Chickweed (Cerastium alpinum), Purple bladder campion (Melandrium apetalum), seabeach sandwortHonckenya peploidesHonckenya peploides or Sea sandwort or Seaside Sandplant is the only species in the genus Honckenya of the flowering plant family Caryophyllaceae. It is often spelled "Honkenya". It has a circumboreal distribution....
(Honckenya peploides), Star Chickweed (Stellaria longipesStellariaStellaria is a genus of about 90-120 species flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include stitchwort and chickweed.-Food use:...
) - Poppy familyPapaveraceaePapaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family of 44 genera and approximately 770 species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates, but almost unknown in the tropics...
(Papaveraceae) - Arctic poppyPapaver radicatumPapaver radicatum is a plant species of the genus Papaver. The species grows at a latitude of 83°40'N on Kaffeklubben Island, making it the northern most growing plant in the world.This poppy appears on the Coat of arms of Nunavut.-See also:*Svalbard poppy,...
(Papaver radicatum) - Rose familyRosaceaeRosaceae are a medium-sized family of flowering plants, including about 2830 species in 95 genera. The name is derived from the type genus Rosa. Among the largest genera are Alchemilla , Sorbus , Crataegus , Cotoneaster , and Rubus...
(Rosaceae) - CinquefoilPotentillaPotentilla is the genus of typical cinquefoils, containing about 500 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the rose family Rosaceae. They are generally Holarctic in distribution, though some may even be found in montane biomes of the New Guinea Highlands...
(Potentilla) or Silverweed (Potentilla anserina or Argentina anserina), CloudberryCloudberryRubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry...
(Rubus chamaemorus), Mountain avensDryas octopetalaDryas octopetala is an arctic-alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies, and is a popular flower in rock gardens...
(Dryas octopetala) (flower of the Northwest Territories), Snow Cinquefoil (Potentilla nivea) - Saxifrage familySaxifragaceaeSaxifragaceae is a plant family with about 460 known species in 36 genera. In Europe there are 12 genera.The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic...
(Saxifragaceae, SaxifrageSaxifrageSaxifraga is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 440 species of Holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages. The Latin word saxifraga means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin + ...
) - Bulblett Saxifrage (Saxifraga cernua), Golden SaxifrageChrysospleniumChrysosplenium is a genus of 57 species of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae...
(Chrysosplenium), Grass of ParnassusGrass of ParnassusThe genus Parnassia, also known as Grass of Parnassus or bog-stars, are plants in the family Celastraceae. The plants occur in arctic and alpine habitats, as well as in dune systems and fens, swamps, moist woods, and across the Northern Hemisphere. It is actually not a grass, but an herbaceous dicot...
(Parnassia), Prickly Saxifrage (Saxifraga tricuspidata), Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) (flower of Nunavut) - SedgesCyperaceaeCyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
(Cyperaceae) - Arctic Cotton (Eriophorum scheuchzeri), cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatumEriophorum vaginatumEriophorum vaginatum L. is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the family Cyperaceae, native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is a 30-60 cm high tussock-forming plant with erect solitary spikelets.-External links:* in Flora of North America*...
), SedgeCarexCarex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...
(Carex ssp.) - Plantain familyPlantaginaceaePlantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
(Plantaginaceae (see HippurisHippurisHippuris, the Mare's tail, was previously the sole genus in the family Hippuridaceae. Following genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it has now been transferred to the family Plantaginaceae, with Hippuridaceae being reduced to synonymy under Plantaginaceae.It includes one to three...
or Hippuridaceae)) - Common Mare's TailCommon Mare's TailThe Common Mare's tail, Hippuris vulgaris, is a common aquatic plant of Eurasia and North America.The species is also sometimes called Horsetail, a name which is better reserved to the Horsetails of genus Equisetum...
(Hippuris vulgaris) - Willow familySalicaceaeSalicaceae are a family of flowering plants. Recent genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has greatly expanded the circumscription of the family to contain 55 genera....
(Salicaceae, salixWillowWillows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
) - Arctic willow (Salix arctica), planeleaf willow (Salix planifolia), Least Willow (Salix herbacea), Net-leaved WillowSalix reticulataSalix reticulata, the Net-leaved Willow, is a dwarf willow, occurring in the colder parts of Northern Europe, Greenland, North America and Northern Asia...
(Salix reticulata), Trailing Willow (Salix arctophila) - Willowherb familyOnagraceaeOnagraceae, also known as the Willowherb family or Evening Primrose family, are a family of flowering plants. The family includes about 640-650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees in 20-24 genera...
(Onagraceae) - FireweedFireweedEpilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed , Great Willow-herb , or Rosebay Willowherb , is a perennial herbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae...
(Epilobium angustifolium) (flower of Yukon) - Wintergreen familyPyrolaceaePyrolaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included the four genera Chimaphila, Moneses, Orthilia, and Pyrola, and sometimes also the eight genera formerly usually placed in the family Monotropaceae.Recent genetic research by the...
(Pyrolaceae) - Large-flowered Wintergreen (Pyrola grandifloraPyrolaPyrola is a genus of evergreen herbaceous plants in the family Ericaceae. Under the old Cronquist system it was placed in its own family Pyrolaceae, but genetic research showed it belonged in the family Ericaceae. The species are commonly known as wintergreen, a name shared with several other...
)
Tourism
The place can almost only be reached by a hired plane – usually one would depart from Baker Lake, about 350 km (217.5 mi) away, where scheduled flights arrive from Rankin Inlet. Information can be obtained at Rankin Inlet's "Baker Lake Lodge". One might also approach by motorboat
Motorboat
A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...
from Repulse Bay, where Parks Canada
Parks Canada
Parks Canada , also known as the Parks Canada Agency , is an agency of the Government of Canada mandated to protect and present nationally significant natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative...
runs a station, but due to possible problems with ice this might take longer and therefore will only be considered by explorers or movie teams who have to bring a lot of equipment.
Until 2002, Sila Lodge was the base camp for all activities; an air strip for bush plane
Bush plane
A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft serving remote, undeveloped areas of a country, usually the African bush, Alaskan and Canadian tundra or the Australian Outback...
s like the Twin Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
is situated near the lodge.
From Sila Lodge, guided tours were offered, for instance boating tours to the Wager Bay islands, or to Ford Lake across the reversing falls, to the former Hudson's Bay Company outpost, or walks to the surrounding area, where one would find impressive relics of earlier settlements, such as tent rings, qarmaq
Qarmaq
Qarmaq is an Inuktitut term for a type of inter-seasonal, single-room family dwelling used by Inuit. To the Central Inuit of Northern Canada, it refers to a hybrid of a tent and igloo, or tent and sod house. Depending on the season, the lower portion was constructed of snow blocks or stone, while...
and Inuksuit, along with relics of the Hudson's Bay Company and Roman Catholic missions.
Trekking routes
- First (lowest) waterfall of Sila River - total: 4 km (2.5 mi) | time to walk: 1 hr | total time: 1.5 hrs | height difference: 40 m (131.2 ft) | peak: 4 m (13.1 ft) | difficulty: easy
- Traversing Tinittuktuq Flats - total: 6 km (3.7 mi) | time to walk: 1.5 hrs | total time: 5 hrs | height difference: 80 m (262.5 ft) | peak: 30 m (98.4 ft) | difficulty: easy
- To Ship's Cove - total: 10 km (6.2 mi) | time to walk: 2.5 hrs | total time: 4 hrs | height difference: 50 m (164 ft) | peak: 30 m (98.4 ft) | difficulty: easy-medium
- Second waterfall of Sila River - total: 8 km (5 mi) | time to walk: 2.5 hrs | total time: 5 hrs | height difference: 160 m (524.9 ft) | peak: 110 m (360.9 ft) | difficulty: medium
- Third and fourth waterfall of Sila River and Falcon Gorge - total: 8 km (5 mi) | time to walk: 2.5 hrs | total time: 5 hrs | height difference: 416 m (1,364.8 ft) | peak: 110 m (360.9 ft) | difficulty: medium-difficult
- Fisherman's Hike - total: 10 km (6.2 mi) | time to walk: 3 hrs | total time: 5 hrs | height difference: 200 m (656.2 ft) | peak: 150 m (492.1 ft) | difficulty: medium-difficult
- To Butterfly Lake - total: 16 km (9.9 mi) | time to walk: 5 hrs | total time: 8 hrs | height difference: 400 m (1,312.3 ft) | peak: 250 m (820.2 ft) | difficulty: (very) difficult
Books
- Nunavut Handbook, Iqaluit 2004 ISBN 0-9736754-0-3
- Walk, Ansgar: Der Polarbär kam spät abends – Skizzen von der Wager Bay, Pendragon Verlag Bielefeld, 2002 ISBN 3-934872-22-0 (German) [“The Polar Bear Came Late at Night: Sketches of Wager Bay”; there is no English edition of the book.]
See also
- List of protected areas of Nunavut