Hantzsch Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

, 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...

. It is located in Frobisher Bay

Frobisher Bay

Frobisher Bay is a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island...

 off the southern tip of Baffin Island

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...

's Meta Incognita Peninsula

Meta Incognita Peninsula

The Meta Incognita Peninsula is located on southern Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It's bounded by Hudson Strait to the west, and Frobisher Bay to the east. The hamlet of Kimmirut is on the peninsula's northwestern coast....

 and the northeastern tip of Edgell Island

Edgell Island

Edgell Island is one of Baffin Island's small offshore islands, located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It lies in Hudson Strait, near the entrance into Frobisher Bay. Graves Strait, about long and wide, separates it from Resolution Island. Edgell Island has an...

. The closet community is 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...

 hamlet of Sanikiluaq

Sanikiluaq, Nunavut

Sanikiluaq is a small Inuit hamlet located on the north coast of Flaherty Island in Hudson Bay, on the Belcher Islands, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Nuiyak School, with 23 staff, teaches Grades K-12, with 302 students enrolled. The principal is Tim Hoyt...

, 800 km (497.1 mi) to the west on Flaherty Island

Flaherty Island

Flaherty Island is an island in the Belcher Islands group in Hudson Bay in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. The island has a very unusual shape....

.

Geography

The island is small and dome-shaped. Its habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is characterized by coastal cliffs, grassy slopes, and a rugged shoreline.

Fauna

Hantzsch Island is a Canadian Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 (#NU025), a International Biological Program

International Biological Program

The International Biological Program was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies...

 site, and a Key Migratory Terrestrial Bird Site

Key Habitat Site

A Key Habitat Site is a Canadian Wildlife Service designation for an area that supports at least 1% of the country's population of any migratory bird species, or subspecies, at any time. There may be overlap with areas designated as a migratory bird sanctuary or national wildlife area.-External...

 (NU Site 49). Notable bird species include Black-legged Kittiwake, Thick-billed Murre, and Colonial

Bird colony

A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in close proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony...

 Waterbirds/Seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s.

Beluga whales, Bearded seal, Ringed seal, Harp seal. Polar bears, and Walrus frequent the area.

History

The island is named in honor of Bernhard Hantzsch

Bernhard Hantzsch

Bernhard Adolph Hantzsch was a German ornithologist, Arctic researcher, and writer, notable for his discovery of two Icelandic bird subspecies...

, a German ornithologist

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

and Arctic researcher.