Sirmilik National Park (pronounced "sur-muh-lick"; Inuktitut: "the place of glaciers") is a national park in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It was created in 1999. The park is located in the Arctic Cordillera and includes three areas: most of Bylot Island, except for a few lands owned by the Inuit; Kangiqłuruluk; and the Borden Peninsula on Baffin Island. Much of the park is surrounded by water.

Geographically, the park represents the Northern Eastern Arctic Lowlands Natural Region and parts of the Lancaster Sound Marine Region.

Etymology

The Inuktitut language, spoken in the Arctic region of North America, uses the word "Sirmilik" to mean "place of glaciers." This name describes Bylot Island, which has many glaciers and ice caps. Because northern Baffin Island was called Sirmilik by Inuktitut speakers, the name of the area became the name of the national park.

History

Many archaeological studies in the park area show that humans have lived there for thousands of years. The earliest people there were early ancestors of the modern-day Inuit.

European whalers and explorers searched the area for the Northwest Passage. In the 1610s, British explorers William Baffin and Robert Bylot studied the area. They named places like Lancaster Sound and Bylot Island in 1616. It took 200 years before another official attempt to find the Passage through this area. In 1818, British explorer John Ross confirmed Baffin’s maps were correct, but his journey ended when he thought mountains blocked the end of Lancaster Sound. Later, from the 1930s to the late 1950s, the Canadian Government mapped the area using airplane surveys.

The park was first created as a bird sanctuary in 1965. The Canadian Wildlife Service monitored it because of its seabird populations. The area officially became a national park in 2001. Today, the Inuit people live there and continue to hunt and fish, as their ancestors did.

The park was featured in a short film from the 2011 National Parks Project. The film was directed by Zacharias Kunuk and had music by Andrew Whiteman, Dean Stone, and Tanya Tagaq.

Geography and climate

The park includes three main land and marine areas. These are Oliver Sound, located south of Pond Inlet, which is a long, narrow fjord surrounded by tall cliffs and glaciers. The second area includes the plateau and river valleys of the Borden Peninsula and Baillarge Bay. The third area is Bylot Island, which has rough terrain with mountains, coastal lowlands, icefields, and glaciers. Hoodoos, which are unique rock formations shaped by erosion, are found on Bylot Island and the Borden Peninsula. Evidence shows that the area was shaped by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, a massive ice sheet that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles at least 20,000 years ago.

The Borden Peninsula stretches north for 225 kilometers (140 miles) and is between 64 kilometers (40 miles) and 169 kilometers (105 miles) wide. The northern part, including the Hartz Mountains, consists of flat, broken rock that rises more than 914 meters (2,999 feet) above sea level. Admiralty Inlet forms the western border, with Elwin Inlet also to the west. Navy Board Inlet borders the peninsula on the east, separating it from Bylot Island. The coastal cliffs along Navy Board Inlet rise up to 457 meters (1,499 feet).

Bylot Island is located north of Baffin Island and covers an area of 11,067 square kilometers (4,273 square miles). It is the 71st largest island in the world and the 17th largest in Canada. It is also one of the largest uninhabited islands globally. No permanent settlements exist on Bylot Island, but Inuit from Pond Inlet and other areas frequently visit. A seasonal hunting camp is located southwest of Cape Graham Moore. The Byam Martin Mountains run from east to west across Bylot Island and are part of the Baffin Mountains, which belong to the Arctic Cordillera mountain system. The highest peak in this range is Angilaaq Mountain, standing 1,951 meters (6,401 feet) high, near the island's center. The Byam Martin Mountains are made of ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks, such as gneiss. Sharp peaks and ridges, separated by deep valleys filled with glaciers, are common features. Glaciers cover much of the island, including the Kaparoqtalik Glacier. Vertical coastal cliffs are made of Precambrian dolomite. The island’s north shore faces Lancaster Sound, a region where polar bears give birth and where many marine animals live. To the northeast of the park is Baffin Bay, and to the south lies Pond Inlet and Eclipse Sound.

In the northern part of Baffin Island, the climate is polar maritime, meaning long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Spring ends around mid-June, and the warmest time of year is late July and early August, with average high temperatures of 10°C. January is the coldest month, with average high temperatures of about -30°C. Rainfall is relatively high, contributing to the plant life found in the park.

Fauna and flora

Beluga whales, Arctic foxes, seals, Arctic hares, walruses, and caribou live in this park. Bylot Island is a place where narwhals travel to during certain times of the year. Sirmilik is one of eight Canadian national parks that has polar bears. Arctic wolves live in and move around this park.

A large group of seabirds nests in Baillarge Bay. Seabirds also nest on Bylot Island, where there is a big area for greater snow geese to nest. More than seventy types of birds have been found in the park, and about forty of these birds lay their eggs there. The park is an important place for birds to live safely. In 1965, Bylot Island was declared a "Migratory Bird Sanctuary" because many birds travel there. Over 100,000 birds are reported to pass through the park each summer. The large population of geese on Bylot Island is the most common plant-eating animals on the island. Thousands of birds nest on the rocky cliffs of Bylot Island, including 300,000 thick-billed murres and 80,000 black-legged kittiwakes.

The wetlands in the park cover 10% of the area. These wetlands have lots of plants, including water sedge, white cottongrass, and tall cottongrass. Other grasses found here include Fisher’s tundragrass, polar grass, and semaphore grass. Several types of brown moss also grow in the wetlands. In the southern part of the island, where the climate is slightly warmer, 360 types of plants have been recorded. These plants are considered rare and have high value for their growth and usefulness.

The upland areas, which cover 90% of the drier southern parts of the park, have plants called forbs, such as Arctic heather, mountain avens, Arctic poppy, and mountain sorrel. Grasses found here include polar grass, northern foxtail, bluegrass, and northern wood rush. Shrubs such as Arctic willow and northern bilberry also grow in these areas.

Gallery

• Bylot Island
• Hoodoos on Bylot Island north of Pond Inlet
• NASA image of Bylot Island
• Eriophorum angustifolium
• Bylot Island