Carey Islands
Island group off Baffin Bay, Greenland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Native name: Kitsissut | |
|---|---|
View of Björling Island | |
  Location within Greenland | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Baffin Bay, Greenland |
| Coordinates | 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 |
Geography
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
Main islands
- 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
- 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
| 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
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
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.