The Geographical Position of the North Water

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Author: Dunbar, Moira
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1969
• Subjects: Animal behaviour; Animal live-capture; Marine mammals; Seals (Animals); Sea lions; Size; Walruses; Arctic waters; Arctic regions; Arctic; Etah; Kane; Smith Sound; eskimo*; Kane Basin; Smith sound; walrus*
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/66286

The name North Water was coined by 19th century whalers, who knew it only in the spring. The Eskimos of the Thule and Etah districts have known it as a winter phenomenon restricting sledge travel but offering good hunting conditions. The mean conditions for Mar-June can now be figured from air observations since 1954 and satellite pictures of 1966-68. The north limit is extremely stable: a fast-ice bridge in a convex curve across the narrow head of Smith Sound which persists to late July-Aug, when a general break- up occurs in Kane Basin. The southern boundary is extremely variable and often poorly defined. There are no observations of a freeze-up date of winter extent of North Water.