Sea Ice Breakup Baffin Bay — Nunavut Canada
The annual sea ice breakup in Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound in June and July is one of the Arctic's most dramatic seasonal events — the 2-metre-thick first-year ice that has locked the Northwest Passage since October breaks into a mobile sea of ice pans, pressure ridges, and leads of open water navigable only by icebreaker. Narwhals move through the breaking ice leads in their thousands — the world's largest narwhal aggregations in Admiralty Inlet number up to 80,000 animals whose spiral ivory tusks break the surface in a visual spectacle absolutely unlike any other Arctic experience. Beluga whales, bowhead whales, and walrus congregate in the leads. The noise of the breakup — cracking, grinding, the explosive detonation of pressure ice — adds an acoustic dimension to the visual. Arctic fox, polar bear, and bearded seals navigate the breaking ice surface for the last weeks before the summer open water season.
About this spectacle
Standing at the edge of Admiralty Inlet in June or July, you witness ice that has held the Northwest Passage locked since October suddenly come alive. Two-metre-thick pans fracture and grind against one another with explosive cracks and deep groaning reverberations that carry across kilometres of open water. Leads of dark Arctic sea open between the retreating ice sheets, and through them come narwhals — tens of thousands of them — their spiral tusks catching the low Arctic sun as they surface in tight, breathing aggregations unlike anything seen elsewhere on Earth. Beluga whales blow in the leads, bowhead whales move slowly through the broken channels, and walrus haul onto drifting floes. On the ice surface itself, polar bears pick their way between fractured pans, bearded seals rest at the ice edge, and Arctic fox thread across the last stable sections before open water claims the bay entirely. The experience is simultaneously auditory and visual: the architecture of an entire frozen sea dismantling itself in real time.
When to go
Jun — Jul
Getting there
Nearest airport: YFB. Nearest city: Iqaluit.
Booking options
Goyova doesn't process bookings directly. When you tap "Plan this trip" in the app, you'll see options from our partner providers — accommodation, tours, transport — with affiliate links where applicable. See our affiliate disclosure for details.
More like this.
Peak season 9-foot Stake Coral Reef — United States
Florida, United States
Peak season Aachtopf
BW, Germany
In season Aammiq Wetland — Lebanon
Beqaa Governorate, LB