Sirmilik National Park

Sirmilik means the place of glaciers, and the park covers about twenty-two thousand square kilometres on northern Baffin Island and Bylot Island. Bylot holds one of the largest seabird colonies in the Arctic, with hundreds of thousands of thick-billed murres and black-legged kittiwakes on the cliffs and a large greater snow goose colony inland. The floe edge, where the landfast ice meets open water in late spring, is the draw: narwhal, belugas, bowhead whales, seals and polar bears concentrate along it, and outfitters from Pond Inlet run camps out on the ice in May and June to watch.

What you actually see

• The floe edge - narwhal, belugas and bears where ice meets open water.
• The Bylot bird cliffs - hundreds of thousands of murres and kittiwakes.
• The glaciers - ice caps and outlet glaciers the park is named for.
• The snow goose colony - a large breeding concentration on Bylot.

When to go

May and June for the floe edge, which is the signature experience; July and August for open-water travel and the bird colonies. Access is only through Pond Inlet.

Honest expectations

There are no facilities, trails or services in the park. Polar bears are present and armed guides are standard. Costs are very high and weather cancels flights and trips routinely.

Nearby

Pond Inlet is the gateway community; Bylot Island lies across the sound.