Hall Beach, Nunavut - from
Atlas of Canada Hall Beach Mosaic
Hall Beach (pop. ~ 650), is a small Inuit community in the eastern Northwest Territories of Canada (Nunavut as of April 1, 1999) and is located at the north eastern tip of Melville peninsula at the shores of Foxe Basin, a narrow strait across from Baffin Island. Also referred to as a hamlet because of its size, Hall Beach holds the distinction as one of the few permanently populated communities north of the Arctic Circle at 68 deg. North and 81 deg. West. The main occupation of the populace here is hunting, fishing and Inuit crafts. The hamlet boasts a local hotel, two stores - Northern and Co-op, a public school, two churches and an RCMP detachment. It also contains a commercial-grade airport which can accomodate large jetliners.The official written and spoken language here is Inuktitut, with English being understood and spoken by most people in the community. Hall Beach was created in
1957 when the Cold War triggered the establishment of a chain of
Distant Early Warning (DEW)
radar sites. The DEW line was centered along the 70th parallel to
monitor Canadian air space in the far north. Now
Fox-MAIN, the Hall Beach
radar station, uses the more advanced North Warning Radar System that has
replaced the archaic DEW line technology. The outdated twin 120 foot tall
tropo scatter dishes now serve as landmarks for aircraft and hunters.
More information on DEW line
can be found here. Since the community is located above the Arctic Circle, during the year, it experiences the phenomenon known as Arctic Day and Arctic Night. During the months of July and August, the sun continuously and tirelesly circles above the horizon, not setting for about two months. This is the best time of the year for some great fishing and hunting. During the months of December and January, the region experiences the Arctic Night which again lasts about two months. Actually, the area never realizes a true night as there is some residual reflection of the sun below the southern horizon. This is termed as the Arctic Light and very characteristic of these latitudes. During the long Arctic day, in the months of July and August, the push is on for fishing and hunting. The world-renowned Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Trout are caught off the shores of Foxe Basin and Hall Lake. Hunting on the tundra is usually for the Caribou (of reindeer family), assorted birds such as ptarmigan, ducks and geese. Foxe Basin also yields Seal and Walrus meat and when eaten raw, referred to as Muktuk. Walrus tusks are used as raw material for creation of local art objects such as carvings. During the winter and summer months, the hamlet is visited by an ocassional Polar Bear or Nanuk. Arctic Hare and Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) abound, changing their pelt colours from brown and blue-gray in the summer to snow-white in the winter. We also have a permanent winter settlement of Ravens, specially adapted to the winter cold. These big black birds can be seen hovering for hours in the blustery, -70C winds.
One of my favourite summer activities is to go to the beach and, besides fishing, look for fossils. There is a great abundance of Trilobites, sponges and an ocassional bird egg. Hall Beach is located in what is known as the Arctic Platform geological province. Structurally (tectonically), the area is part of the Foxe Basin of the southeastern Arctic Platform. The rocks here are of Ordovician age, or about half a billion years old (see: A GUIDE TO THE EIGHT ORDERS OF TRILOBITES). The weather in this part of the world varies greatly between the summer months and the rest of the year. For about ten months of the year, the temperature seldom reaches above zero degrees centigrade, with an average mid-winter temperature of -30C. During December and January, temperature can dip down to -70C. As the local saying goes "any weather is good weather as long as you can walk outside". This cannot be closer to the truth for us here. During the summer months of July and August, the temperature varies from -2C to +18C. In the summer, a phenomenon called Sun Dogs * can be observed. This is the result of sunlight reflection and produces rare, diamond-like duplicates of the Sun. This region is also very active with Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. At these latitudes, the Aurora displays are nothing less than spectacular. Hall Beach is located in an area of the Eastern Canadian Arctic known as Nunavut, [Inuktituk, = our land], now a part of the Inuit territory, embracing 1,994,000 sq km of the former eastern NORTHWEST TERRITORIES (approx. 60% of the entire N.W.T.). The area has a population of about 20,000, over 85% of which is Inuit. An agreement signed (1991) by Canadian and Inuit leaders transferred 349,650 sq km of land to the Inuit. In 1992 residents of the Northwest Territories voted to approve the creation of Nunavut. The capital of Nunavut is Iqaluit (former Frobisher Bay), located on the southern tip of Baffin Island. * Also called mock suns or false suns, sun dogs form when incoming sunlight is refracted through suspended ice crystals in the atmosphere, creating the image of two brilliant spots on either side of the sun.
How to get here? The community is regularly serviced by First Air (1-800-267-1247). You can start either from Ottawa or Montreal to Iqaluit and then to Hall Beach. From Montreal, it is a three hour flight to Iqaluit and then another two hours to Hall Beach. For accomodations, call Hall Beach Hotel (1-819-928-8952 or 8876).
Doug Consul's Hall Beach photos from the summer of 1960
A Bit of Trivia:
Some useful tips for ships attempting to anchor off Hall Beach Normal procedure is to set out anchors one hour before low water, then wait for
slack water to swing into position, about 2 1/2 hours after low water. Tidal streams are
erratic with small tides. Mariners must be prepared to leave in strong Easterly winds.
Almost impossible to stay in position with heavy seas,swell or if ice starts moving into
position.
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