Carey Islands
Native name: Kitsissut | |
---|---|
![]() View of Björling Island | |
Geography | |
Location | Baffin Bay, Greenland |
Coordinates | 76°40′00″N 72°30′00″W / 76.666667°N 72.5°W |
Archipelago | Carey Islands |
Total islands | 6 |
Major islands | Nordvestø |
Highest elevation | 300 m (1000 ft) |
Administration | |
Greenland | |
Municipality | Avannaata |
Demographics | |
Population | uninhabited |
The Carey Islands (Danish: Carey Øer; Greenlandic: Kitsissut) are an island group off Baffin Bay, in Avannaata municipality, northwest Greenland. Located relatively far offshore the Carey Islands are the westernmost point of Greenland as a territory. The sea surrounding the islands is clogged by ice most of the year.
Geography
[edit]The archipelago consists of six desolate islands, a few small islets and a number of rocks awash.[1] It is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the west of Thule Air Base and 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the SW of Cape Parry.[2]
The nearest settlement is Moriusaq to the east on the coast of Greenland, abandoned since 2007.
Islands
[edit]Main islands
[edit]- Nordvestø, Isbjørneø and Mellemø form a compact cluster at the NW end of the archipelago.
- Nordvestø, the biggest island with a length of 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) and a width of nearly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). This island's western landhead is the westernmost point of Greenland. Its highest point is 225 metres (738 ft).
- Isbjørneø and Mellemø, lying close to the east and forming a natural harbour between them and Nordvestø.
- Bordø and Björlingø, located further to the east; the latter has a 300 metres (980 ft) high peak and is named after Johan Alfred Björling.
- Fireø, lying in the southern area of the group.
Islets
[edit]- Hollænderhatten and Tyreøjet are two small islets to the east of Fireø having a diameter of a few hundred metres. there are also numerous other islets and rocks, especially in the western sector of the archipelago.[3]
Climate
[edit]Climate data for Kitsissut, Greenland (2009-2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 0.1 (32.2) | 0.6 (33.1) | 2.9 (37.2) | −0.1 (31.8) | 8.9 (48.0) | 10.5 (50.9) | 13.1 (55.6) | 10.4 (50.7) | 8.0 (46.4) | 2.4 (36.3) | 1.6 (34.9) | −0.5 (31.1) | 13.1 (55.6) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −14.7 (5.5) | −15.8 (3.6) | −16.4 (2.5) | −10.0 (14.0) | −2.8 (27.0) | 2.2 (36.0) | 6.2 (43.2) | 5.0 (41.0) | 0.6 (33.1) | −3.8 (25.2) | −9.1 (15.6) | −13.0 (8.6) | −6.0 (21.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −16.6 (2.1) | −17.7 (0.1) | −18.2 (−0.8) | −11.6 (11.1) | −4.0 (24.8) | 0.7 (33.3) | 4.4 (39.9) | 3.7 (38.7) | −0.3 (31.5) | −5.0 (23.0) | −10.9 (12.4) | −14.8 (5.4) | −7.5 (18.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −18.4 (−1.1) | −19.4 (−2.9) | −20.1 (−4.2) | −13.4 (7.9) | −5.4 (22.3) | −0.7 (30.7) | 2.8 (37.0) | 2.3 (36.1) | −1.3 (29.7) | −6.2 (20.8) | −12.5 (9.5) | −16.6 (2.1) | −9.1 (15.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −33.4 (−28.1) | −28.4 (−19.1) | −32.7 (−26.9) | −26.7 (−16.1) | −15.0 (5.0) | −6.0 (21.2) | −2.3 (27.9) | −2.4 (27.7) | −6.2 (20.8) | −15.6 (3.9) | −23.9 (−11.0) | −30.3 (−22.5) | −33.4 (−28.1) |
Average relative humidity (%) | 75.4 | 74.1 | 74.4 | 75.5 | 80.5 | 87.4 | 86.5 | 88.7 | 81.5 | 79.5 | 77.3 | 76.1 | 79.7 |
Source: DMI (humidity 2011-2020)[4] |
Important Bird Area
[edit]The island group has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of some 6,700 pairs of thick-billed murres, as well as other seabirds including glaucous gulls, razorbills, black guillemots and Atlantic puffins.[5]
History
[edit]The islands had been inhabited by the Inuit in the past; remains of their dwellings were found by Clements Markham in August 1851.[6]
The Carey Islands' were named by the 1616 Bylot-Baffin Arctic expedition after Allwin Carey, one of the financiers of the venture.[7]
Swedish naturalists Alfred Björling and Evald Kallstenius stopped at the Carey Islands in 1892 during an expedition on schooner Ripple to pick up supplies at a cache there. The Ripple, however, was driven on shore and wrecked. The men attempted to sail a small sloop back to Etah, but were forced to return to the Carey Islands.[8]
According to letters left by members of the ill-fated expedition in a cairn on the islands, the remaining four men attempted to sail their open boat 80 miles to Ellesmere Island:
Forced by bad weather to linger on this island for a long time, I now set out on the tour to the Eskimos... on Ellesmere Island. As I hope that a whaler will visit the Carey Islands next summer to rescue me and my companions, I will try to reach the islands again before July 1. We are now five men, of which one is dying.[9]
In June 1893, the crew of the Scottish whaler Aurora spotted a wreck on the Carey Islands. They found the Ripple, a man's body buried under a pile of stones, and Björling's letters.[9] No trace of the other four men, or the small boat, was ever found.
See also
[edit]- List of islands of Greenland
- List of countries by westernmost point
- Björling-Kallstenius Expedition
- Cape Alexander, Greenland
References
[edit]- ^ "Carey Øer". Mapcarta. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ Carey Islands, Greenland
- ^ Sailing Directions (Enroute), Pub. 181: Greenland and Iceland (PDF). Sailing Directions. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2017. p. 70.
- ^ "Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020 – Greenland" (PDF). Danish Meteorological Institute. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ "Carey Islands". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ Clements Robert Markham: Franklin’s footsteps. Chapman and Hall, London 1853, p. 115.
- ^ Thomas Rundall. Narratives of Voyages towards the North-west, in search of a Passage to Cathay and India, 1496 to 1631. The Hakluyt Society, London 1849, S. 141.
- ^ Mowat, Farley (1967). The Polar Passion: The Quest for the North Pole. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited.
- ^ a b Harper, Ken. (Oct 7, 2005) Nunatsiaq News: "Taissumani: A Day in Arctic History Oct. 12, 1892 - The Disappearance of Bjorling and Kallstenius"