Fury and Hecla Strait is a narrow (from wide) Arctic seawater channel located 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 ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

, Canada.

Geography

Situated between

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

to the north and the Melville Peninsula to the south, it connects Foxe Basin on the east with the Gulf of Boothia on the west. Water flow in the strait is sometimes westerly and sometimes easterly – there are diurnal and semidiurnal components to the flows; tidal and subtidal effects also play a role. The strait provides Arctic Ocean drainage for Hudson Bay via Foxe Basin. Several islands of the

Arctic Archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark). Situated in the northern extremity of No ...

are located inside the strait:

Saglirjuaq Saglirjuaq ( Inuktitut syllabics: ''ᓴᒡᓕᕐᔪᐊᖅ'') formerly Liddon Island is one of several irregularly shaped islands located in the Fury and Hecla Strait of Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region within the northern Canadian Arctic. It is no ...

(Liddon Island),

Simialuk Simialuk (Inuktitut syllabics: ''ᓯᒥᐊᓗᒃ'') formerly Ormonde Island is an irregularly shaped island located at the eastern opening of the Fury and Hecla Strait. Situated in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region within the northern Canadian Arctic, ...

(Ormonde Island) and

Saglaarjuk Saglaarjuk (Inuktitut syllabics''ᓴᒡᓛᕐᔪᒃ'') formerly Amherst Island is one of several uninhabited, irregularly shaped islands located on the south side of the Fury and Hecla Strait of Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region within the northern Ca ...

(Amherst Island) are the largest ones.

History of exploration

The Strait is named after the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

ships HMS ''Fury'' and HMS ''Hecla'', which encountered the strait in 1822 during an expedition led by Sir William Edward Parry. Both ships became stuck in ice in October 1821, and remained immobile for eight months. During this time, the expedition learned of the strait from the native Inuit. Two men from the expedition set out with four Inuit on sled to assess the strait. Captain Parry would later accompany another trip to the strait. In 1948, USS ''Edisto'' and USCGC ''Eastwind'' icebreakers succeeded in crossing the strait from east to west, and HMCS ''Labrador'' succeeded in crossing the strait from west to east in 1956. In August 2016, David Scott Cowper and son, Freddy Cowper, aboard M/V ''Polar Bound'' became the first vessel to transit Fury and Hecla Strait from east to west during their successful Route-7 West

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

"The Ping"

Fury and Hecla Strait is the site of an unexplained phenomenon called "The Ping", alternatively described as a "hum" or "beep" heard throughout summer 2016. It was heard by various residents of the town of

Igloolik Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on ...

, and local hunters blamed it for a comparative scarcity of marine game animals that year. Canadian military authorities performed an airborne survey of the area but reported nothing unusual, nor did they have any knowledge of allied or foreign submarine activity in the area.Canadian military investigating mysterious 'ping' sound scaring sea animals
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References

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Geography

History of exploration

"The Ping"

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading