Rice Strait is a narrow
waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
between
Ellesmere Island's eastern coast and
Pim Island
Pim Island (previously Bedford Pim Island) is located off the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Located within the Arctic Archipelago, it is a part of the Queen Elizabeth ...
in
northern Canada's territory of
Nunavut. It connects
Rosse Bay
Rosse Bay is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Nares Strait between Pim Island and Ellesmere Island's Johan Peninsula The Johan Peninsula is located on the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, a part of ...
on the south with
Buchanan Bay to the north.
The strait is named after Sergeant
George W. Rice (born 29 June 1855 in
Baddeck, Nova Scotia
Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake.
Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...
), who was the photographer on
Adolphus Greely
Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
A native of Newburyport, Massachusetts an ...
's ill-fated Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, and also a correspondent with the ''New York Herald''. He was the only Canadian on this
United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...
sponsored expedition to the Arctic. Rice died on 9 April 1884, before the expedition's rescue.
References
Straits of Qikiqtaaluk Region
Bodies of water of Baffin Bay
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