Whale Sound

Last updated
Whale Sound
Hvalsund
Greenland edcp relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Whale Sound
LocationNW Greenland
Coordinates 77°17′N71°0′W / 77.283°N 71.000°W / 77.283; -71.000 Coordinates: 77°17′N71°0′W / 77.283°N 71.000°W / 77.283; -71.000
Part of Arctic Ocean
Ocean/sea sources Baffin Bay
Inglefield Gulf
Basin  countries Greenland
Max. length50 km (31 mi)
Max. width19 km (12 mi)
FrozenMost of the year
Islands Kiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island)

The Whale Sound (Danish : Hvalsund) is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland. [1]

Contents

Geography

It is a broad channel that runs roughly from east to west between the mouth of the Inglefield Fjord and Baffin Bay. Its minimum width is 19 km. [2]

The Whale Sound separates Steensby Land —part of the Greenland mainland— to the south from Kiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island) to the north. The Murchison Sound leads from the Baffin Bay to the Inglefield Fjord on the north side of the islands. [3] the Olrik Fjord has its entrance at the eastern end of the sound.

Map of Northwestern Greenland Operational Navigation Chart B-8, 3rd edition.jpg
Map of Northwestern Greenland
19th century map of the Inglefield Gulf. Northward over the great ice - a narrative of life and work along the shores and upon the interior ice-cap of northern Greenland in the years 1886 and 1891-1897, with a description of the little tribe (14779963574).jpg
19th century map of the Inglefield Gulf.

Related Research Articles

William Baffin was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is primarily known for his attempt to discover a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, during the course of which he was the first European to discover Baffin Bay in present-day Canada. He was also responsible for exceptional surveys of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf on behalf of the East India Company.

Baffin Bay Marginal sea between Greenland and Baffin Island, Canada

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Davis Strait Northern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies between mid-western Greenland and Canadas Baffin Island

Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis (1550–1605), who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage. By the 1650s it was used for whale hunting.

Smith Sound Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada

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.

The Cumberland Sound belugas are a distinct population of belugas residing in the Cumberland Sound region of the Labrador Sea off the coast of Nunavut, Canada Individuals of this population reside in the sound year-round, congregating in its extreme north exclusively at Clearwater Fjord during the summer for calving. The Cumberland Sound beluga population is considered fairly isolated and genetically distinct from other beluga populations, with a notable number of haplotypes and microsatellite loci not found elsewhere.

Wolstenholme Fjord is a fjord in Avannaata municipality, Northwest Greenland. It is located to the north of the Thule Air Base and adjacent to the abandoned Inuit settlement of Narsaarsuk.

Nuussuaq Place in Greenland, Kingdom of Denmark

Nuussuaq, formerly Kraulshavn, is a settlement in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is the only mainland settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago, located near the western tip of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, on the northern coast of Sugar Loaf Bay, an indentation of Baffin Bay.

Edward Augustus Inglefield Royal Navy officer and Arctic expeditionary

Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield was a Royal Navy officer who led one of the searches for the missing Arctic explorer John Franklin during the 1850s. In doing so, his expedition charted previously unexplored areas along the northern Canadian coastline, including Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound.

Qeqertarsuaq or Herbert Island is an island in Baffin Bay near Qaanaaq in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland. The island has an area of 223 km2.

Kiatak Island off the coast of northern Greenland

Kiatak or Northumberland Island, also known as Kujata, is an island off the coast of northern Greenland.

Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at approximately 71°50′N56°00′W to the southern end of Melville Bay in the north at approximately 74°50′N57°30′W.

Sugar Loaf Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentation of northeastern Baffin Bay. The name of the bay derives from the name of an island of the same name in the bay, Sugar Loaf Island.

Cape Cleveland, also known as Innartalik, is a headland in Northwest Greenland, Avannaata municipality.

Hakluyt Island is an island in Baffin Bay, in Avannaata municipality, off northwest Greenland.

Inglefield Gulf Fjord in northwestern Greenland

Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord is a fjord in northwestern Greenland. To the west, the fjord opens into the Baffin Bay. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.

MacCormick Fjord is a fjord in northern Greenland. To the southwest, the fjord opens into the Murchison Sound of the Baffin Bay.

Bowdoin Fjord Fjord in northern Greenland.

Bowdoin Fjord is a fjord in northern Greenland. To the south the fjord opens into the Inglefield Gulf of the Baffin Bay.

Olrik Fjord is a fjord in the Avannaata municipality, Northwestern Greenland. To the east the fjord opens into the Hvalsund, at the end of the Inglefield Gulf of the Baffin Bay.

Siorapaluup Kangerlua Body of water

Siorapaluup Kangerlua, also known as Robertson Fjord and Robertson Bay, is a fjord in northern Greenland. To the southwest, the fjord opens into the Murchison Sound of the Baffin Bay. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.

The Murchison Sound is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland. It was named after Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison.

References

  1. GoogleEarth
  2. "Hvalsund". Mapcarta. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  3. Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 88