Creswell Bay

{{Short description|Bay in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=June 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox body of water |name= Creswell Bay |image= |caption = |location= Western [[Prince Regent Inlet]] |coords= {{coord|72|41|N|93|25|W|region:CA-NU_type:waterbody_scale:500000|notes=<ref>{{Cite cgndb|OADXY|Creswell Bay|date=16 June 2024}}</ref>|display=inline, title|name=Creswell Bay}} |rivers= Creswell River<br />Union River |oceans= [[Arctic Ocean]] |countries= Canada |pushpin_map=Canada Nunavut |length= |width= |area= {{cvt|2178|km2}} |cities= Uninhabited |references= }} '''Creswell Bay''' is an [[Arctic]] waterway in [[Qikiqtaaluk Region]], [[Nunavut]], Canada. It is an arm of western [[Prince Regent Inlet]] in eastern [[Somerset Island (Nunavut)|Somerset Island]]. Its northeastern landmark, Fury Point, is approximately {{cvt|100|km|}} west of [[Baffin Island]].

While the bay does not have any permanent settlements, the closest is [[Resolute, Nunavut|Resolute]] about {{cvt|228|km}} to the north-northeast,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search-place-names/search?latdec=72.683333&londec=-93.416667&sort-field=distance&from=Creswell+Bay&q=Resolute |title=Point-to-point distance Creswell Bay – Resolute|date=16 February 2021|access-date=16 June 2024}}</ref> it was an [[outpost camp]] and remains an important site to [[Inuit]].<ref name="mb">{{cite web|url=http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/community/ecoaction/fp-pf/page.asp?lang=en&id=NU-12003|title=Creswell Bay Drum Removal & Clean-Up Project|publisher=[[Environment and Climate Change Canada]]|website=www.mb.ec.gc.ca|access-date=2009-05-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030329234725/http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/community/ecoaction/fp-pf/page.asp?lang=en&id=NU-12003|archive-date=29 March 2003}}</ref>

==Geography== Creswell Bay is large and almost semicircular. Its habitat is characterized by [[tundra]], rivers, streams, mud, saline [[Mudflat|sand flats]], a freshwater lake, open sea, inlets, coastal marine features, coastal cliffs, and rocky marine shores.

[[Stanwell-Fletcher Lake]] is joined to the bay by the Union River; crystalline rocks are notable along the way. The Creswell River also empties into the bay.<ref name="iba">{{cite web|url=http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=NU062|title=Creswell Bay|publisher=bsc-eoc.org|accessdate=2009-05-05|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612102015/http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=NU062|archivedate=2011-06-12}}</ref>

The [[Devonian]] period [[Peel Sound Formation]] outcrops at the bay. The [[Geological formation|formation]] consists of sandstone, grit, and conglomerate which is predominantly [[limestone]].<ref name="Dineley">{{cite web|url=https://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic19-3-270.pdf|title=Geological studies in Somerset Island, University of Ottawa expedition, 1965|last=Dineley|first=David|publisher=aina.ucalgary.ca|pages=273|accessdate=2009-05-05}}</ref>

==Fauna== [[File:Narwhals 1997-08-01.jpg|thumb|[[Narwhal]]s in the bay]] The bay is a Canadian [[Important Bird Area]] (#NU062). Notable bird species include [[grey plover]], [[Snow goose|greater snow goose]], [[king eider]], [[long-tailed duck]], [[red phalarope]], [[sanderling]], and [[white-rumped sandpiper]]. [[Arctic char]] enter the bay in the late summer and swim up the Union River to [[Stanwell-Fletcher Lake]], where they over-winter. The large numbers of char attract [[beluga whale]]s and [[narwhal]]s which feed on them.

==History== [[Archaeological site]]s include [[Thule people|Thule]] encampments and [[Dorset culture|Dorset]] settlements.

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Bays of the Qikiqtaaluk Region]] [[Category:Important Bird Areas of Qikiqtaaluk Region]] [[Category:Important Bird Areas of Arctic islands]]