Lancaster Sound (Inuktitut ᑕᓗᕆᑐᑉ ᑕᕆᖓ Talluritup Tariunga) is a body of water in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay; to the west lies Viscount Melville Sound. Further west a traveler would enter the McClure Strait before heading into the Arctic Ocean.
Lancaster Sound was named in 1616 by explorer William Baffin for Sir James Lancaster, one of the three main financial supporters of his exploratory expeditions. The abortive expedition by the British explorer John Ross in 1818 ended when he saw what he believed were mountains blocking the end of Lancaster Sound. In 1819 William Edward Parry got through it and went as far west as Melville Island (Arctic). The sound was thoroughly explored during an extensive aerial mapping program of Northern Canada by the Canadian Government which took from the 1930s until the late 1950s to complete. Coincidentally, the type of aircraft that was used to complete the mapping program was the Avro Lancaster, a World War II heavy bomber which had been converted for mapping.
The Inuit and their ancestors have relied for thousands of years on the Sound's abundant natural wealth for food, clothing and shelter. Today, residents of the three Nunavut communities of Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, and Resolute Bay continue this tradition, depending on its waters for their economic and cultural well being.
Read more about Lancaster Sound: Geography, Fauna, Conservation
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