Page 8 - Wildlife of the World

24 | NORTH AMERICA

CANADIAN

ARCTIC

A far northern place

of ice and snow

The Canadian Arctic includes one of the world’s LONG-DISTANCE
largest archipelagos—36,563 islands, most further than any animal on
TRAVELER
of which are uninhabited by people. between its Arctic breeding
The Arctic tern travels
The easternmost islands are mountainous, areas and the Antarctic.
the planet as it migrates
becoming lower lying in the west. For much Many Arctic animals head
of the long, dark winter, land and sea are caribou make a shorter but
south to avoid the winter—
bound in a vast ice-scape, broken only by equally arduous trip to the
rocky island peaks and occasional polynyas tundra regions of Canada.
—areas of sea that freeze late and thaw
early. Polynyas are a vital resource for
marine mammals including belugas and
bowhead whales, which use them as
breathing holes, and for seals and ❯ This is a Land of the Midnight Sun—the Sun never sets in summer ❯ Of 36 mammal species here, 17 are marine ❯
polar bears, which need to
access the water from the sea
ice. In summer, strong tides
sweep the channels between
the islands.

Frozen ground
On land, the top three feet of soil thaws
briefly in summer, but the ground beneath is TOUGH START IN LIFE
permanently frozen (permafrost). Plant life Newborn hooded seals feed HOODED SEAL MOTHER AND PUP
is limited to mosses, lichens, and around 200 enables them to increase
days. After that, their
species of grass, sedge, hardy forbs, and dwarf their weight from 55–100 lb
shrubs. Land mammals able to withstand the (25 to 45 kg) in just four
mate and feed. Each pup
must learn to swim, dive, and
cold include caribou, muskoxen, Arctic foxes, and mothers return to the sea to
lemmings. The number of invertebrate species is on super-rich milk that WOOD FROG
low, but mites and springtails become hunt before it starves.
superabundant in summer, providing food for
breeding migrant birds such as Arctic terns,
ivory gulls, common eiders, and red phalaropes.

dormant, their blood and
Melting of the permafrost WINTER FREEZE
of a protective glucose
contrast, Arctic cod have
prevent their blood freezing.
releases methane and Wood frogs pass the winter they pump their cells full
carbon, increasing the skin frozen solid. To survive, syrup made by the liver. In antifreeze proteins that

rate of global warming