The Fond du Lac River is one of the upper branches of the
Mackenzie River system, draining into the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...
, located in northern
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
, Canada. The river is long, has a watershed of , and its mean discharge is .
Hydrology
The river begins at an elevation of at Cunning Bay on
Wollaston Lake
Wollaston Lake is a lake in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake tha ...
. It flows north to Hatchet Lake at an elevation of and continues to Waterfound Bay at an elevation of , where the tributary Waterfound River enters from the left. The river continues north to Kosdaw Lake at an elevation of , over the Redbank Falls to Otter Lake, the Manitou Falls, the Brink Rapids and the Brassy Rapids, before the Hawkrock River enters from the left. It continues over the Hawkrock Rapids and the North Rapids and takes in the Perch River from the right. The Fond du Lac River flows further over the Perch Rapids, takes in the Porcupine River from the right, travels over the Burr Falls, and enters
Black Lake at an elevation of .
Several tributaries enter at Black Lake: from the right, the Chipman River and the Souter River; and from the left, the
Cree River.
The river leaves the lake on the northwest side near the community of
Black Lake, travels over the Elizabeth Falls and the Woodcock Rapids, flows past the community of
Stony Rapids
Stony Rapids ( chp, Deschaghe, translation=settlement on the other side of the Rapids) is a northern hamlet in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located south of the border to the Northwest Territories, the community is astride the Fond du L ...
, and reaches its mouth at
Lake Athabasca
Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...
.
Fish species
The river also supports a number of
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
species. These include
walleye
The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...
,
yellow perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...
,
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...
,
lake trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...
,
Arctic grayling
The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Misso ...
,
lake whitefish
The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...
,
cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
,
white sucker
The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonl ...
,
longnose sucker
The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in rive ...
and
burbot
The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish
Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments di ...
.
See also
*
List of rivers of Saskatchewan
This is a list of rivers of Saskatchewan, a province of Canada.
The largest and most notable rivers are listed at the start, followed by rivers listed by drainage basin and then alphabetically.
Principal river statistics
''SourcSt ...
References
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fond Du Lac River (Mackenzie River)
Rivers of Saskatchewan
Lake Athabasca