| Summary: | Great Bear Lake has an area of 29,500 km^2 and it is the fourth largest lake in North America. It is situated at an elevation of 169 m (515 ft) and has a maximum depth of 427 m (1,410 ft) so that 257 m (840 ft) are below sea level. The deepest part lies about five miles off the eastern end of McTavish Arm along the edges of Pre-Cambrian shield. In June 1963 a limnological survey was started on Great Bear using the M.V. "Radium Gilbert", a vessel of 270 tons and 120 ft length, under the command of Capitan A. McInnes of the Northern Transportation Company. The ship was fitted with a gasoline/hydraulic oceanographic winch and a Kelvin-Huges echo sounder for limnological observations, a Mb XV Sperry Gyroscopic compass and a Decca Radar model 212 for navigation purposes. The programme was carried out by the Arctic Unit of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Great Bear is normally ice-covered from the end of November to the last week of July. In 1963 the season started early and navigation was possible by 12th July. One hundred and three stations were occupied: Stations 003, 011, 004, were occupied at regular intervals through the season and represent a gradient from extreme oligotrophy to be the entropic conditions likely to be found in the lake.
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