The vast Canadian Arctic territories cover an area as large as India, but with a human population of 100,000. The regions of Yukon, North West Territories and Nunavut contain some of the most unspoilt wilderness of the Arctic, and the fabled North West Passage, now becoming more accessible with rising sea temperatures. Arctic Canada includes the massive islands Baffin, Ellesmere and Victoria, which support healthy populations of musk oxen, Arctic wolves and snowy owls, and a small indigenous population of Inuit people. Belugas and narwhal may be seen offshore, and polar bears follow the pack ice even as far south as Churchill in winter.
Eric Baccega / Northern lights (Aurora borealis) Northwest territories, March 2008, Canada
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Brent Stephenson / Young Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) walking across melting sea ice, Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic, August. Vulnerable species.
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Brent Stephenson / Sunset off Scott Island, with floating pieces of sea ice, Scott Inlet, Baffin Island, Canadian Arctic, August 2015.
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Eric Baccega / Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) crossing tusks above water surface. Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, April.
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Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Mountains and altocumulus clouds reflected in Hall Basin. Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.
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Pal Hermansen / Broken one year ice off the coast of Ellesmere Island, seen from prow of boat, Nunavut, Canada, August 2007.
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Eric Baccega / Northern lights (Aurora borealis) Northwest territories, March 2008, Canada
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Sue Flood / Beluga whales trapped at ice hole {Delphinapterus leucas} too far away to reach open sea, Canadian High Arctic. June 1999
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David Noton / Arctic landscape with ice floes in Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island Canadian Arctic, North America
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Staffan Widstrand / Winter storm -35 C. Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada.
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Eric Baccega / Young Inuit boy jumping over a crack on ice floe, Ellesmere Island, Nanavut, Canada, June 2012. Model released.
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David Noton / Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic