View source for Dolphin and Union Strait

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
[[Image:Map indicating Dolphin and Union Strait, Northwest Territories, Canada.png|thumb|300px|Dolphin and Union Strait, Canada.{{legend|#ffff66|Nunavut}}{{legend|#ffccff|Northwest Territories}}{{legend|#ffcc99|Yukon Territory}}{{legend|#ffffcc|Regions outside Canada (Alaska, Greenland)}}]]

'''Dolphin and Union Strait''' lies in both the [[Northwest Territories]] ([[Inuvik Region]]) and [[Nunavut]] ([[Kitikmeot Region]]), Canada, between the mainland and [[Victoria Island (Canada)|Victoria Island]]. It is part of the [[Northwest Passage]]. It links [[Amundsen Gulf]], lying to the northwest, with [[Coronation Gulf]], lying to the southeast. The southeastern end of the strait is marked by [[Austin Bay (Nunavut)|Austin Bay]]. It gets its name from the two boats used by the Scottish naval surgeon and explorer [[John Richardson (naturalist)|John Richardson]], who was the first known European to explore it in 1826.

The [[Inuit]] who use this area have been variously known as the [[Copper Inuit]], the Copper Eskimos, or the "People at the end of the world," because few other [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous groups]] had continuously used the area before. This is partly why the first Europeans who ventured into this area, were amazed by the [[Blond Eskimos|"blond" Inuit]] they had encountered.

There are several islands within the strait, including the Liston and [[Sutton Island (Nunavut)|Sutton Islands]], historically home to the Noahonirmiut band of Copper Inuit.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NhBAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Prince+Albert+Sound%22&pg=PA50 |title=The Stefánsson-Anderson Arctic Expedition of the American Museum: Preliminary Ethnological Report |last=Stefansson |first=Vilhjalmur |year=1914 |publisher=The Trustees of the American Museum |location=New York |oclc=13626409 |page=26}}</ref>

The strait is about {{convert|161|km|abbr=on}} long and ranges from {{convert|32|to|64|km|abbr=on}} in width. When frozen, it is used by [[barren-ground caribou]], known as the [[Dolphin-Union caribou|Dolphin and Union herd]], to reach Victoria Island for the summer and to return to the mainland for the winter. [[Eider]] ducks are also found in the strait.

The [[Reindeer|caribou]] are known locally as ''tuktu'' which is understood across the circumpolar world. Conversely, [[Eider|eider ducks]] are called ''kingalik'' which means, simply, "big-nose".

In recent decades, the local [[Inuvialuit]] have seen the reduction in average winter sea-ice thickness from roughly {{convert|6|to|7|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} in the early 1960s to about {{convert|110|to|120|cm|abbr=on}} even in the dead of winter today. There is also a preponderance of new species from flies to wasps, and new birds arriving that have never been seen before; [[grizzly bear]]s roam where they were once that most rare curiosity.

==References==
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{{Coord|69|05|10|N|116|02|30|W|type:waterbody_region:CA-NU_scale:300000_source:http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/OAUHE|display=title|name=Dolphin and Union Strait}}
{{Straits of Nunavut}}
{{Northwest Territories hydrography}}

[[Category:Straits of the Northwest Territories]]
[[Category:Straits of Kitikmeot Region]]
[[Category:Victoria Island (Canada)]]


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