Northwest Passage Wildlife

The eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage, particularly in and around Lancaster Sound, is the summer home to one of Canada’s largest clusters of polar bears. They congregate here as the sea ice melts and are also attracted by migrating beluga whales and narwhal – popular prey and a veritable feast for a hungry bear.

Migrating with the whales in a southwest direction, by July and August polar bears can be found around Somerset and Prince of Wales Island. Then as autumn sets in and the ice starts to reform, bears retrace their steps back northeast towards Lancaster Sound and out into Davis Strait.

The best bear sightings are typically when they’re amongst ice where they feel safest; when on land they tend to move away quickly.

Well known places for polar bears include Coningham Bay, Lancaster Sound, Croker Bay and Bellot Strait.

Although they resemble bison these rather strange looking animals are actually very large goats, weighing up to 900lbs. With impressive horns and enormous shaggy coats they are an iconic Arctic species that like to feed on the rolling tundra in small family groups. Their name is derived from the musky odour emitted by males to attract partners during the mating season.

Although the world population is estimated at just 150,000 about three quarters of musk oxen are to be found in the central Canadian Arctic and Greenland. In the Northwest Passage region, Devon, Victoria, Prince of Wales and King William Islands all provide good sighting opportunities, with one of the highest concentrations of these curious creatures to be found on Banks Island. They can swim, so could be present on any of the islands in the region.

With its blubbery brown hide, long tusks and bushy whiskers, the walrus always makes an impressive and endearing sight. These creatures favour the shallow waters of bays and coves of the Northwest Passage where they dredge up large quantities of marine molluscs, shrimps, worms and crabs. Weighing up to a ton, they must consume about 6% of their own body weight in food every day.

Between meals they like to rest on land or ice, generally in large social groups called ‘haul outs’ where they bellow and snort at one another. Although these slightly comical creatures are rarely found to the west of Bellot Strait, they tend to be a frequent sight around the Devon and Bathurst Islands.

This rotund black whale, which grows to almost 60ft in length, is one of the few arctic species that remains in these waters year round. Once hunted for oil, meat and baleen, the Baffin Bay and Davis Strait population has recovered well, now numbering as many as 16,000 (three times that of the late 1970’s). They tend to be spotted alone, or in small pods of up to half a dozen members.

Research suggests that bowhead whales are the longest-lived mammal on earth with a lifespan of up to 200 years. One whale was recently discovered to have a 130 year old harpoon imbedded in it’s neck! They also boast the largest mouth of any creature on earth, which they use to scoop up and filter huge quantities of plankton.

This medium-sized whale is remarkable for its single long tusk which can grow to an excess of two metres - a feature that has secured it a special place in mythology. Some believed the tusk to be a unicorn horn complete with magical powers. This air of mystery is heightened by the fact that the narwhal is incredibly shy (even being spooked by air bubbles from scuba divers). Only occasionally spotted from ships, it is most commonly sighted at the edge of ice floes.

The north coast of Baffin Island and the Lancaster Sound area represents some of the best places in the world in which to see narwhal.

This region is a bird watcher’s paradise as countless species - and literally millions of birds - nest and hatch their young here every summer. The list is extensive, from ptarmigans, guillemots, puffins, auks and terns to kittiwakes, fulmars, eider ducks and the arctic skuas. The limestone cliffs of Prince Leopold Island host 400,000 birds, including 100,000 pairs of thick-billed murres, while Bylot Island provides nesting habitats for a staggering 74 bird species.

Bird cliffs are also attractive to opportunistic predators – from polar bears and arctic fox to gyrfalcons and snowy owls. Keen birders should note that by September, with temperatures dropping, the majority of the migratory birds have departed south for warmer climes.