Baffin Bay
Encyclopedia
Baffin Bay located between Baffin Island
and the southwest coast of Greenland
, is a marginal sea
of the North Atlantic Ocean
. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait
and the Labrador Sea
. A narrower Nares Strait
connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean
.
The bay area was inhabited from around 500 BC by the Dorset
and then Thule
and Inuit
people. It was reached by Europeans in 1585 and described in detail in 1616 by William Baffin
, after whom the bay and the island are named. The bay is not navigable most of the year because of the ice cover
and high density of floating ice
and iceberg
s in the open areas. However, a polynya
of about 80000 km² (30,888.2 sq mi), known as the North Water, opens in summer on the north near Smith Sound
. Most of the aquatic life of the bay is concentrated near that region.
, was the first recorded European
to enter the bay. Later, between 1612 and 1616, William Baffin made five expeditions to the Arctic
; together with Robert Bylot
, he reached and explored the Baffin Bay in 1616. He also proved that no Northwest Passage
was in the Hudson Bay
area. The reports by Baffin and Bylot were questioned in England and in 1818, the bay was "rediscovered" by John Ross
. More advanced scientific studies followed in 1928, in the 1930s and after World War II by Danish, American and Canadian expeditions.
The northern coast of area of the bay was occupied by the Dorset (500 BC – 1200 AD) and then Thule and Inuit people. Currently, there are a few Inuit settlements
on the Canadian coast of the bay, including Arctic Bay (population 690), Pond Inlet (1,315) and Clyde River
(820). Those settlements are accessed and supplied by air and annual sealift
s. In 1975, a town was built at Nanisivik to support lead and zinc production at the Nanisivik Mine
– the first Canadian mine in the Arctic. The mine was permanently closed in 2002 due to declining resources and metal prices. Whereas the town still has an operational seaport and an airport, as of the Canada 2006 Census
, it has a population of zero.
Baffin Bay was the epicenter
of a 7.3 magnitude
earthquake in 1933
. This is the largest known earthquake north of the Arctic Circle
. It caused no damage because of its offshore location and the small number of the nearby onshore communities. The northwestern part of the bay remains one of the most seismically active regions in eastern Canada, and with five earthquakes of magnitude 6 have occurred here since 1933. The latest strong earthquake occurred on 15 April 2010 and had the magnitude of 5.1.
defines the limits of Baffin Bay as follows:
Baffin Bay is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by the Baffin Island in the west, Greenland in the east, and Ellesmere Island in the north. It connects to the Atlantic through the Davis Strait, and to the Arctic through several narrow channels of Nares Strait. It is a northwestern extension of the North Atlantic and Labrador Sea. It can also be viewed as a long strait
separating Baffin Island and Greenland.
The bay is less than 1000 m (3,280.8 ft) deep near the coast, where the sea bottom is covered with gravel, crushed stone and sand. In the center, there is a deep pit called Baffin Hollow reaching 2136 m (7,007.9 ft) (see depth map), which is mostly covered in silt
. Currents
form a cyclonic circulation
. On the eastern periphery, in summer, the West Greenland Current
transports water from the Atlantic Ocean to the North. In its western part, the Baffin Island Current
brings the Arctic waters to the south.
The climate is Arctic
with frequent storms, especially in winter. Average January temperatures are -20 C in the south and -28 C on the north. In July, the average temperature is 7 °C (44.6 °F). The annual precipitation is 100 – on the Greenland side and about twice larger near the Baffin Island.
The water temperature at the surface is below -1 C in winter. In summer, it varies from 4–5 °C (39.2–41 F) in the south-east to 0 °C (32 °F) and below at north-west. The salinity exceeds 34‰ (parts per thousand) in winter. In summer, it is 32‰ on the east and 30–31‰ on the west. Deep waters are formed as a result of mixing of Arctic and Atlantic waters; their temperature is about -0.5 C and salinity is 34.5 ‰. In winter, 80% of the bay is covered with continuous ice, floating ice and fast ice
. In some winters, the continuous ice stretches from shore to shore. The ice is most abundant in March and least in August–September. In summer, drifting ice
remains in the central and western parts of the bay. Numerous icebergs are formed in this period and are brought, together with ice, to the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland.
The tide
s are semidiurnal
, with an average height of 4 m (13.1 ft) and the maximum of 9 m (29.5 ft). Their speed varies between 1 kilometre per hour hour and the direction by as much as 180°. This variability results in in the collision and crushing of fresh, old, and pack ice. Winds are predominantly north-western through the whole year. South-eastern and eastern winds are common in July and August.
and covers the Smith Sound between the Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This polynya has a stable position and existed for at least 9,000 years. It was first described in 1616 by William Baffin and was named North Water by whalers of the 18–19th centuries.
The North Water provides air to ice algae
and zooplankton
and is characterized by abundant fauna. Of about 20,000 Beluga whales living in the Baffin Bay, some 15,000 are concentrated at the North Water. Other abundant animals of the region include walrus
, narwhal
, Harp Seal
, bearded seal
, ringed seal
and polar bear
. All aquatic mammals
crucially depend on the availability of open water; they have very limited ability to maintain breathing holes in ice and are all vulnerable to attacks by the polar bear when breathing at the holes. The seals and walrus occupy areas of fast ice, which is essential for giving birth and raising the pups. Bearded seals feed near the bottom of the bay and therefore are restricted to the shallow waters. Ringed seal is the most common meal of the polar bear. It is also an occasional prey of the walrus and Arctic Fox
. Most large animals of the bay are being traditionally hunted, but the hunting has been restricted in the 20th century in order to preserve the wildlife population. For example, the quota for polar bears in the bay area is 105 per year.
There are about 400 plant and tree species on the bay shores, including birch, willow, alder and plants adapted to salty soils
, as well as lyme grass
, mosses, and lichens. These serve as food for caribou
and rodents, such as lemming
. Resident fish species include polar cod
, Arctic flounder
(Pleuronectidae
, Liopsetta
), four-horned sculpin
and capelin
, whereas cod
, haddock
, herring
, halibut
, and rattail
migrate
from the Atlantic. The birds are represented by the Little Auk
, Snowy Owl
, Willow Ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon
, Arctic Redpoll
and guillemot
s. Most of them migrate to the south during the winter.
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
and the southwest coast of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, is a marginal sea
Marginal sea
The term marginal sea has differing meanings. In one sense the term is equivalent to territorial waters. In another sense the term indicates a partially enclosed sea adjacent to or widely open to the open ocean, but bounded by submarine ridges...
of the North Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait
Davis Strait
Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....
and the Labrador Sea
Labrador Sea
The Labrador Sea is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, and northeast. It connects to the north with Baffin Bay through the Davis Strait...
. A narrower Nares Strait
Nares Strait
Nares Strait is a waterway between Ellesmere Island and Greenland that is the northern part of Baffin Bay where it meets the Lincoln Sea. From south to north, the strait includes Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin and Robeson Channel...
connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
.
The bay area was inhabited from around 500 BC by the Dorset
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...
and then Thule
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...
and 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...
people. It was reached by Europeans in 1585 and described in detail in 1616 by William Baffin
William Baffin
William Baffin was an English navigator and explorer. Nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance...
, after whom the bay and the island are named. The bay is not navigable most of the year because of the ice cover
Polar ice packs
Polar ice packs are large areas of pack ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions, known as polar ice caps: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean, fringing the Antarctic ice sheet. Polar packs significantly change their size during...
and high density of floating ice
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
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 in the open areas. However, a polynya
Polynya
A polynya or polynia is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as geographical term for an area of unfrozen sea within the ice pack. It is a loanword from , , which means a natural ice hole, and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable...
of about 80000 km² (30,888.2 sq mi), known as the North Water, opens in summer on the north near Smith Sound
Smith Sound
Smith Sound is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait....
. Most of the aquatic life of the bay is concentrated near that region.
History
In 1585, British explorer, John DavisJohn Davis (English explorer)
John Davis , was one of the chief English navigators and explorers under Elizabeth I, especially in Polar regions and in the Far East.-Early life:...
, was the first recorded European
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
to enter the bay. Later, between 1612 and 1616, William Baffin made five expeditions to 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...
; together with Robert Bylot
Robert Bylot
Robert Bylot was a 17th-century explorer who made four voyages to the Arctic. He was uneducated and from a working class background, but was able to rise to rank of Master in the British Royal Navy....
, he reached and explored the Baffin Bay in 1616. He also proved that no 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...
was in the 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,...
area. The reports by Baffin and Bylot were questioned in England and in 1818, the bay was "rediscovered" by John Ross
John Ross (Arctic explorer)
Sir John Ross, CB, was a Scottish rear admiral and Arctic explorer.Ross was the son of the Rev. Andrew Ross, minister of Inch, near Stranraer in Scotland. In 1786, aged only nine, he joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice. He served in the Mediterranean until 1789 and then in the English Channel...
. More advanced scientific studies followed in 1928, in the 1930s and after World War II by Danish, American and Canadian expeditions.
The northern coast of area of the bay was occupied by the Dorset (500 BC – 1200 AD) and then Thule and Inuit people. Currently, there are a few Inuit settlements
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
on the Canadian coast of the bay, including Arctic Bay (population 690), Pond Inlet (1,315) and Clyde River
Clyde River, Nunavut
Clyde River is an Inuit hamlet located on the shore of Baffin Island's Patricia Bay, off Clyde Inlet, an arm of Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, of Nunavut Canada. It lies in the Baffin Mountains which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera mountain range...
(820). Those settlements are accessed and supplied by air and annual sealift
Sealift
Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies...
s. In 1975, a town was built at Nanisivik to support lead and zinc production at the Nanisivik Mine
Nanisivik Mine
Nanisivik Mine was a zinc-lead mine in the company town of Nanisivik, Nunavut, north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. It was Canada's first mine in the Arctic....
– the first Canadian mine in the Arctic. The mine was permanently closed in 2002 due to declining resources and metal prices. Whereas the town still has an operational seaport and an airport, as of the Canada 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
, it has a population of zero.
Baffin Bay was the epicenter
Epicenter
The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...
of a 7.3 magnitude
Richter magnitude scale
The expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....
earthquake in 1933
1933 Baffin Bay earthquake
The 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake was a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Greenland and Nunavut, and Canada at 6:21 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 20, 1933....
. This is the largest known earthquake north 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....
. It caused no damage because of its offshore location and the small number of the nearby onshore communities. The northwestern part of the bay remains one of the most seismically active regions in eastern Canada, and with five earthquakes of magnitude 6 have occurred here since 1933. The latest strong earthquake occurred on 15 April 2010 and had the magnitude of 5.1.
Extent
The International Hydrographic OrganizationInternational Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization is the inter-governmental organisation representing the hydrographic community. It enjoys observer status at the UN and is the recognised competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting...
defines the limits of Baffin Bay as follows:
Geography and geology
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
separating Baffin Island and Greenland.
The bay is less than 1000 m (3,280.8 ft) deep near the coast, where the sea bottom is covered with gravel, crushed stone and sand. In the center, there is a deep pit called Baffin Hollow reaching 2136 m (7,007.9 ft) (see depth map), which is mostly covered in silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
. 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...
form a cyclonic circulation
Cyclonic rotation
Cyclonic rotation or circulation is movement in the same direction as the Earth's rotation, as opposed to anticyclonic rotation.-External links:* - AMS Glossary of Meteorology...
. On the eastern periphery, in summer, the West Greenland Current
West Greenland Current
The West Greenland Current is a weak cold water current that flows to the north along the west coast of Greenland. The current results from the movement of water flowing around the southernmost point of Greenland caused by the East Greenland Current....
transports water from the Atlantic Ocean to the North. In its western part, the Baffin Island Current
Baffin Island Current
Baffin Island Current is an ocean current running south down the western side of Baffin Bay in the Arctic Ocean, along Baffin Island. Its sources are the West Greenland Current and outflow from the Arctic Ocean. Its speed is approximately per day.- See also :* Labrador Current* East Greenland...
brings the Arctic waters to the south.
Climate, hydrology and hydrochemistry
Climate of the Arctic
The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter...
with frequent storms, especially in winter. Average January temperatures are -20 C in the south and -28 C on the north. In July, the average temperature is 7 °C (44.6 °F). The annual precipitation is 100 – on the Greenland side and about twice larger near the Baffin Island.
The water temperature at the surface is below -1 C in winter. In summer, it varies from 4–5 °C (39.2–41 F) in the south-east to 0 °C (32 °F) and below at north-west. The salinity exceeds 34‰ (parts per thousand) in winter. In summer, it is 32‰ on the east and 30–31‰ on the west. Deep waters are formed as a result of mixing of Arctic and Atlantic waters; their temperature is about -0.5 C and salinity is 34.5 ‰. In winter, 80% of the bay is covered with continuous ice, floating ice and fast ice
Fast ice
Fast ice is sea ice that has frozen along coasts along the shoals, or to the sea floor over shallow parts of the continental shelf, and extends out from land into sea. In Antarctica, fast ice may also extend between grounded icebergs...
. In some winters, the continuous ice stretches from shore to shore. The ice is most abundant in March and least in August–September. In summer, 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"....
remains in the central and western parts of the bay. Numerous icebergs are formed in this period and are brought, together with ice, to the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland.
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 are semidiurnal
Diurnal cycle
A diurnal cycle is any pattern that recurs every 24 hours as a result of one full rotation of the Earth.In climatology, the diurnal cycle is one of the most basic forms of climate patterns. The most familiar such pattern is the diurnal temperature variation...
, with an average height of 4 m (13.1 ft) and the maximum of 9 m (29.5 ft). Their speed varies between 1 kilometre per hour hour and the direction by as much as 180°. This variability results in in the collision and crushing of fresh, old, and pack ice. Winds are predominantly north-western through the whole year. South-eastern and eastern winds are common in July and August.
North Water
Between May and July (sometimes April), a significant portion of navigable open water (polynya) forms at the extreme north of the bay, presumably due to the relatively warm Greenland Current. With an area of about 80000 km² (30,888.2 sq mi) in summer, it is the largest polynya of the Canadian ArcticNorthern 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...
and covers the Smith Sound between the Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This polynya has a stable position and existed for at least 9,000 years. It was first described in 1616 by William Baffin and was named North Water by whalers of the 18–19th centuries.
Wildlife
Ice algae
Ice algae is a general term used to describe all the various types of algal communities encountered in annual and multi-year sea-ice. The ice algal communities play an important role in primary production and are therefore considered an important part of both Polar ecosystems.Sea-ice algal...
and zooplankton
Zooplankton
Zooplankton are heterotrophic plankton. Plankton are organisms drifting in oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water. The word "zooplankton" is derived from the Greek zoon , meaning "animal", and , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"...
and is characterized by abundant fauna. Of about 20,000 Beluga whales living in the Baffin Bay, some 15,000 are concentrated at the North Water. Other abundant animals of the region include 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...
, 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...
, Harp Seal
Harp Seal
The harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. It now belongs to the monotypic genus Pagophilus. Its scientific name, Pagophilus groenlandicus, means "ice-lover from Greenland", and its synonym, Phoca...
, 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...
, 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...
and 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...
. All aquatic mammals
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...
crucially depend on the availability of open water; they have very limited ability to maintain breathing holes in ice and are all vulnerable to attacks by the polar bear when breathing at the holes. The seals and walrus occupy areas of fast ice, which is essential for giving birth and raising the pups. Bearded seals feed near the bottom of the bay and therefore are restricted to the shallow waters. Ringed seal is the most common meal of the polar bear. It is also an occasional prey of the walrus and 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...
. Most large animals of the bay are being traditionally hunted, but the hunting has been restricted in the 20th century in order to preserve the wildlife population. For example, the quota for polar bears in the bay area is 105 per year.
There are about 400 plant and tree species on the bay shores, including birch, willow, alder and plants adapted to salty soils
Halophyte
A halophyte is a plant that grows where it is affected by salinity in the root area or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora . Relatively few plant species are...
, as well as lyme grass
Leymus arenarius
Leymus arenarius Hochst. is a psammophylic species of grass in the Poaceae family, native to Atlantic, Central and Northern Europe and the coldest shores of North America....
, mosses, and lichens. These serve as food for 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...
and rodents, such as 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,...
. Resident fish species include polar cod
Polar cod
The polar cod , also known as the Arctic cod, is a fish of the cod family Gadidae, related to the true cod . Note that there is another fish with the common name Arctic cod, Arctogadus glacialis....
, Arctic flounder
Arctic flounder
The Arctic flounder, Liopsetta glacialis, is a flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae. It is a demersal fish that lives on coastal mud bottoms in salt, brackish and fresh waters at depths of up to...
(Pleuronectidae
Pleuronectidae
Righteye flounders are a family, Pleuronectidae, of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left side, with both eyes on the right side. The Paralichthyidae are the opposite, with their eyes on the left side.Their dorsal and anal fins are...
, Liopsetta
Liopsetta
Liopsetta is a genus of fish in the Pleuronectidae family.-Species:* Arctic flounder, Liopsetta glacialis .* Far Eastern smooth flounder, Liopsetta pinnifasciata ....
), four-horned sculpin
Sculpin
A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...
and capelin
Capelin
The capelin or caplin, Mallotus villosus, is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin also eat a great deal of krill and other crustaceans...
, whereas cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
, haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
, herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
, halibut
Halibut
Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...
, and rattail
Rattail
Grenadiers or rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the family Macrouridae...
migrate
Fish migration
Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousands of kilometres...
from the Atlantic. The birds are represented by the Little Auk
Little Auk
The Little Auk, or Dovekie , is a small auk, the only member of the genus Alle. It breeds on islands in the high Arctic. There are two subspecies: A. a. alle breeds in Greenland, Iceland, Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen, and A. a...
, Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl
The Snowy Owl is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great...
, Willow Ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon
Gyrfalcon
The 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...
, Arctic Redpoll
Arctic Redpoll
The Arctic Redpoll , known in North America as the Hoary Redpoll, is a bird species in the finch family Fringillidae. It breeds in tundra birch forest. It has two subspecies, C. h. hornemanni of Greenland and neighbouring parts of Canada, and C. h...
and guillemot
Guillemot
Guillemots is the common name for several species of seabird in the auk family . In British use, the term comprises two genera: Uria and Cepphus. In North America the Uria species are called "murres" and only the Cepphus species are called "guillemots"...
s. Most of them migrate to the south during the winter.