Niaqunnguut (
Inuktitut syllabics
Inuktitut syllabics ( iu, ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ, qaniujaaqpait, or , ) is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik and Nunatsiavut regions of Quebec and Labra ...
: ''ᓂᐊᖁᙴᑦ'' formerly Cape Graham Moore,
Niaqunnguut (Formerly Cape Graham Moore)
/ref> after Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Moore, is an uninhabited headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...
on Bylot Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region
The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ) or Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name f ...
of Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, Canada. It is located at the island's southeastern tip protruding into Lancaster Sound
Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...
. The community of Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet ( iu, Mittimatalik, lit=the place where Mittima is buried) is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada, located on northern Baffin Island. To the Inuit the name of the place "is and always ...
is to the southwest.
Geography
The habitat is characterized by rocky shores and coastal cliffs that reach an elevation of above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
.
Conservation
The cape is a Canadian Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(#NU068), an International Biological Program
The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, the Internat ...
site (#7-5), Key Marine Habitat site (#15), and Key Migratory Bird
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between Breeding in the wild, breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Animal migration, Migration carries high costs in predation a ...
Terrestrial Habitat site. Other IBAs on the island include Cape Hay and Southwest Bylot Plain The Southwest Bylot plain is an uninhabited plain in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in southwestern Bylot Island directly north of Eclipse Sound. Pond Inlet is the closest community. Southwest Bylot is notable for housing the largest ...
. The cape is part of the Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary
The Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a migratory bird sanctuary in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. Located on Bylot Island, it was federally designated in 1965, and is classified as Category IV by the International Union for Conservation o ...
.
Avifauna
Notable bird species include the black-legged kittiwake
The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae.
This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...
and thick-billed murre
The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' i ...
, both of which are colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s. The area is also frequented by bowhead whale
The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus ''Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, ...
s, narwhal
The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large "tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is o ...
s, polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
s, harp seal
The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as Saddleback Seal or Greenland Seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus ''Phoca'' with a number ...
s, and beluga whale
The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the whi ...
s.
References
Peninsulas of Qikiqtaaluk Region
Important Bird Areas of Qikiqtaaluk Region
Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands
Seabird colonies
{{QikiqtaalukNU-geo-stub