Lincoln Sea Hall Basin MARINE ATLAS ARCTIC CANADA’S GREENLAND Ellesmere Island Kane Basin Nares Strait N nd ansen Sou s d Axel n Sve Heiberg rdr a up Island l Ch ann North CANADA’S s el I Pea Water ry Ch a h nnel Massey t Sou Baffin e Amund nd ISR Boundary b Ringnes Bay Ellef Norwegian Coburg Island Grise Fiord a Ringnes Bay Island ARCTIC MARINE z Island EEZ Boundary Prince i Borden ARCTIC l Island Gustaf E Adolf Sea Maclea Jones n Str OCEAN n ait Sound ATLANTIC e Mackenzie Pe Ball nn antyn King Island y S e trait e S u trait it Devon Wel ATLAS Stra OCEAN Q Prince l Island Clyde River Queens in Bylot Patrick Hazen Byam gt Channel o Island Martin n Island Ch tr. Channel an Pond Inlet S Bathurst nel Qikiqtarjuaq liam A Island Eclipse ust Lancaster Sound in Cornwallis Sound Hecla Ch Fitzwil Island and an Griper nel ait Bay r Resolute t Melville Barrow Strait Arctic Bay S et P l Island r i Kel l n e c n e n Somerset Pangnirtung EEZ Boundary a R M'Clure Strait h Island e C g Baffin Island Brodeur y e r r n Peninsula t a P I Cumberland n Peel Sound l e Sound Viscount Stefansson t Melville Island Sound Prince Labrador of Wales Igloolik Prince Sea it Island Charles ra Hadley Bay Banks St s Island le a Island W Hall Beach f Beaufort o M'Clintock Gulf of Iqaluit e c n Frobisher Bay i Channel Resolution r Boothia Boothia Sea P Island Sachs Franklin Peninsula Committee Foxe Harbour Strait Bay Melville Peninsula Basin Kimmirut Taloyoak N UNAT Minto Inlet Victoria SIA VUT Makkovik Ulukhaktok Kugaaruk Foxe Island Hopedale Liverpool Amundsen Victoria King Peninsula Rigolet Bay Strait WIlliam Hudson Strait Akpatok Nain Mackenzie Gulf Prince Albert Sound Cape Dorset Island Natuashish Postville Bay Franklin Island Gjoa Haven Naujaat Kangiqsualujjuaq Tuktoyaktuk Quaqtaq Ungava Hamilton Bay Darnley Cambridge Bay Salisbury Inlet Bay Island Kangiqsujuaq Bay North West Husky Sheshatshiu River Lakes Do Nottingham lphin Kangirsuk an Island Paulatuk d U INUVIALUIT ni Kent Queen Maud Gulf Salluit Aklavik Inuvik on Happy Valley St Peninsula ra Southampton Aupaluk it - Goose Bay Alaska SETTLEMENT Old Crow Island Ivujivik Kuujjuaq REGION Coral Harbour Tasiujaq r Coronation Gulf ve Fort Tsiigehtchic Ungava Ri ll McPherson ckenz Mansel hi Ma ie NUNAVUT rc Island Peninsula hu R Kugluktuk C i v e Coats Akulivik r NORTHWEST Bathurst Island NFLD and Inlet Puvirnituq YUKON C TERRITORIES op NUNAVIK pe LABRADOR r m i n e Baker Lake Chesterfield R Inlet i v r er e e Riv r B Riv n ack lo he T Rankin Inlet Inukjuak Whale Cove Umiujaq Y Hudson uk on Bay Sanikiluaq QUEBEC Arviat Belcher Kuujjuarapik Islands Whapmagoostui r ve Ri e nd CANADA ra G La Chisasibi Churchill James Wemindji r r Bay e e Eastmain iv iv R R t l r l Fort Severn e i Peawanuck p h Akimiski u c r R r ive Island u R h n Waskaganish C o s l Attawapiskat e BRITISH N Kashechewan COLUMBIA ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN MANITOBA ONTARIO Moosonee Moose Factory CANADA’S ARCTIC MARINE ATLAS Suggested Citation: Oceans North Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ducks Unlimited Canada. (2018). Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas. Ottawa, Ontario: Oceans North Conservation Society. Cover image: Shaded Relief Map of Canada’s Arctic by Jeremy Davies Inside cover: Topographic relief of the Canadian Arctic This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. All photographs © by the photographers This Atlas is funded in part by the ISBN: 978-1-7752749-0-2 (print version) Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. ISBN: 978-1-7752749-1-9 (digital version) Library and Archives Canada Printed in Canada, February 2018 100% Carbon Neutral Print by Hemlock Printers © 1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (also known as World Wildlife Fund). ® “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark. I | CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................... ii Introduction ..................................................................... iv Canadian Arctic Reference Map ................................... 2 FOREWORD The Changing Arctic ....................................................... 6 Humans and the Environment ....................................... 8 Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada, embraces Canada’s Arctic waters and Inuit Land Claims .........................................................................10 coastline. From Davis Strait in the east to the Mackenzie Delta in the west, these Inuit Travel Routes and Sea Ice ..............................................12 waters are abundant with marine life that has sustained Inuit for millennia. Inuit, as Inuit Place Names ....................................................................14 Industrial and Commercial Activities ...................................16 humans, are a key part of a healthy Arctic and share the sea-ice, polynyas, estuaries, Management and Conservation ............................................18 and passageways of Canada’s northern seas with marine mammals, fish, and birds. Physical Oceanography of the Arctic .........................20 Introduction ...................................................................................20 Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas is a compendium of maps and introductory descriptions Landscape of the Seabed .......................................................22 that thoughtfully depict what we know about the animals that inhabit Canada’s Seawater Sources and Surface Currents ........................24 northern waters as well as their habitats. While recognizing what is known, it Sea Ice and Its Variation ..........................................................26 Tides and Their Effects .............................................................32 is important to understand that Canada’s Arctic is experiencing unprecedented Storms and Their Effects .........................................................34 ecological change. At the same time, the region is facing a new generation of geo- Big Arctic, Little Arctic .............................................................36 political and industrial interests that will have a direct impact on the future of Inuit Bottom of the Food Web ...............................................38 Nunangat and its 53 communities. Phytoplankton ..............................................................................39 Amphipods and Pteropods .....................................................42 Calanoid Copepods ...................................................................44 This compendium is about Arctic biological marine life. Even though it does not Cold water Corals and Sponges ...........................................46 explicitly depict Traditional Knowledge, it does acknowledge the hard-fought political history and empowerment of Inuit in Canada. The atlas also includes maps of Inuit Marine and Anadromous Fishes of the Arctic ...........48 Anadromous Fishes ...................................................................52 place names and trails, illustrating that Inuit Nunangat is the place of our people Pelagic Fishes ..............................................................................54 and all they do and know. Together with scientists and others, we can combine our Bottom Fishes ...............................................................................56 knowledge and our vision to achieve what none of us can do alone. Forage Fishes–1 ...........................................................................58 Forage Fishes–2 ...........................................................................60 I strongly encourage all who have an interest in the future of the Arctic and its people Coastal and Marine Birds of the Arctic ......................62 Arctic-Breeding Geese .............................................................66 to use Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas as one starting point toward sound stewardship Arctic-Breeding Sea Ducks–1 ................................................70 of our national Arctic heritage. Together with the continued involvement of Inuit in Arctic-Breeding Sea Ducks–2 ............................................... 74 shaping their future on their terms, the information compiled here is an essential Arctic-Breeding Loons ..............................................................78 Arctic-Breeding Seabirds ........................................................82 contribution to a vibrant, Canadian Arctic. Arctic-Breeding Shorebirds....................................................86 Marine Mammals of the Arctic ....................................90 Baleen Whales..............................................................................94 Mary Simon Toothed Whales–1 ......................................................................96 Toothed Whales–2 ......................................................................98 Honourary Chair, Oceans North Pinnipeds–1 ..................................................................................100 Pinnipeds–2 .................................................................................102 Carnivores ....................................................................................104 Further Reading ........................................................... 106 Data Notes .................................................................... 112 Acknowledgements