Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Hobhouse Inlet is located on the south coast of Devon Island, east of Maxwell Bay, in the eastern high Arctic region. To the east of the inlet is an anvil-shaped peninsula that is characterized by steep cliffs that exceed 460 metres in height. The cliff face contains numerous grassy ledges that seabirds use for nesting. The promontory is permanently ice-covered at its centre.
The offshore waters of Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait are important foraging areas for seabirds, due to their high biological diversity and richness. Lancaster Sound also functions as a migration route for numerous Narwhals, white whales, Harp Seals and Ringed Seals. Polar bears are year-round inhabitants in the region, using the entire south coast of Devon Island as a maternity denning area.
The peninsula supports a large colony of Northern Fulmars, which nest along the cliff ledges from mid-April to early October. The fulmar colony covers the 10km cliff face and a provisional estimate of 75,000 pairs was made in the mid-1970s. It has been suggested that actual number likely lies between 10,000 and 100,000 pairs and more recently an estimate of 25,000 pairs has been cited by some, while others feel that the number may be nearer the upper end of this range. (No more recent surveys have been completed.) The presence of 25,000 pairs would represent about 2.4% of the estimated North American population of fulmars.
Other species that nest at this site include Glaucous Gulls, Thayers Gulls, and Black Guillemots.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
As with other seabirds, Northern Fulmars are vulnerable to disturbance while nesting, and to pollution of offshore waters where they forage. There is a potential for Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, and Prince Regent Inlet to become marine shipping routes, and to have hydrocarbon exploration and development occur. Exploratory drilling and frequent shipping traffic could cause disturbance of seabird colonies and pollution of the feeding areas (from oil spills).
Hobhouse Inlet has been identified as an area of Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat site by the Canadian Wildlife Service, as well as a significant site under the International Biological Programme (IBP) (Region 9, #2-16). The IBP designation functions to accentuate the ecological significance of the site, without providing special associated regulatory measures.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Hobhouse Inlet (Canada). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/hobhouse-inlet-iba-canada on 26/12/2024.
