Somerset - Nunavut
Across the narrow Bellot Straight from the northernmost tip of North America's mainland coast, Somerset island marks the center of the Arctic Archipelago. Beluga whales calve on the islands northern shore, a prolific scene that often attracts hungry polar bears. The bears also frequent the thriving bird rookeries on Prince Leopold island, just off Somerset's northeast coast.

Its earliest known human inhabitants arrived approximately four thousand years ago, hunting caribou, musk oxen, and marine animals. Archeological sites are found throughout the area, including the remains of ancient tent circles, small stone houses, and large whalebones left by Thule hunters, the ancestors of the Inuit whom European explorers encountered on the island.