Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/897

ARCTIC REGION. fies (OdohiTiiiif! ohrsus) is funnel on flie nortli- em coast of Alaska and Kanichatka. Anionj]; species of hair seals which inluibit the Arctic seas, the most important is the Phorn foctidn, whose range covers the Arctic regions near the shores and ice-fields, and extends south to Labra- dor, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the gulfs of Both- nia and of Finland, and along the coasts of Si- beria and Alaska, into Bering Sea. The harp seal {J'hdcii (imnlamlica) and the bearded seal [Phoca harhatus) . which is the largest of the North Atlantic pinnipeds ne.xt to tlie walrus, also have a circnnipolar distribution. The blad- der-nose or hooded seal (tiystoiihoru cristata) ranges from Greenland to Spitzbergen and along the nortliern coast of Europe. For other seals, see the article Seal.

Arctic Birds. Birds are very plentiful throughout the whole of the Arctic region. The little auk {Meri/itlus olle) and the guillemot {Uria nrra) are found in thousands in whatever legion there are cliH's to serve as nesting spots. Ravens (('orriis corox), snow buntings iPlectro- phenax nivalis), and sandpipers, have been seen in the remotest northern land regions. The snowj' owl (yctea nivea) and the falcon, though in certain regions rare — as, for instance, Greenland and Franz-.Tosef Land — still inhabit all Arctic lands. Various species of gulls — Ross's gull { Rhodostcthia rosea), the glaucus gull {l,arus glaiicu.'i), the ivory gull ( Pagophila (burnea) — also I'ange very far north: Xansen saw Ross's gulls and ivory gulls upon the ice- pack above Franz-Josef Land. Among the other characteristic Arctic birds are the eider duck, kittiwakes, skuas, teal, petrels, puffins, and ptar- migans. Further information concerning the mammals and birds of the Arctic region will be found under the names of the animals. See also Distribution of Animals, and the titles of the cnintries included in the Arctic region. Arctic Insects. Insects have been collected wlierever exploration has extended and vegeta- tion was known. Bees and parasitic hymenop- terans occur as far as the Pedicularis or other flowers bloom — up to 82° or more in Grinnell Land, and in Greenland. Beetles are less hardy, and few are known north of the Arctic Circle, but flies, butterflies and moths have been taken up to 83° on the American side of the pole. Thus the Xares expedition brought back several species of Lepidoptera, mostly of common genera (Argj'nnis, Colias. Lyciena, etc.) of butterflies, while the few moths represent various families. These insects have only about six weeks in which their larva' can hatch and feed, and probably do not mature in a single season ; but it must also be remembered that the whole twenty-four hours of the days of their brief career are sunny, and they fly about continuously.

Marine Life. More than one hundred and twenty- five species of fishes have been taken within the Arctic Circle, and valuable fisheries exist on the northern coasts of Russia, in the waters about Spitzbergen and Xova Zembla, and might be organized north of Bering Strait. The most important are cod, halibut, flatfish, and related forms; but many bottom-feeding families are represented as far north as knowl- edge extends. Several species of salmon or trout ascend Arctic rivers, the most northerly ease being that of Salmo arcturus, taken in Grinnell Land (latitude 82°). Food for many of these fishes, and for seals and walruses, is afforded by a large variety of mollusks. includ- ing squids, clams, and mussels, and a long list of gastropods, chiefly of the families Pleuro- tomida!, Buccinid.T, Xatacida>, and Trochidae. Nearly one hundred species have been cata- logued, a large proportion of which also exi.st in temperate latitudes. The great abundance of diatoms and the general prevalence of low alga- sustain these and similar low animals. Xo mollusks are more widesjiread and numer- ous, however, than the pteropods, especially of the genera Clione and Limacina, and they fur- nish an important element in whale diet. There are also chitons and sea-slugs. Crustacea abound in the Arctic seas. A few are of the higher forms, allied to crabs and shrimps, but mainly they are entomostracans of small size and pelagic life. Such amphipods as Anonyx and Hippolyte are well re])resented in the ex- treme north at various depths, as also are the copepods, isopods, barnacles, and pycnogonids; and the specimens of such species as are also known southward are very much larger than their southern equivalents. All of these, and especially the copepods, are of great economic importance as food for whales. They are an ex- ample of the power of resisting cold possessed by these creatures, for they survive freezing for a long period, and their eggs are still more hardy. The shores and shallows of the Arctic Ocean also abound in annelids, of which twenty or more species have been collected, and which form an important element in the diet of the larger denizens of those seas; and the still humbler ranks of life are represented by jelly fishes and hydroids, especially varied and nu- merous north of .laska. and by polyzoans and test-bearing protozoans in great numbers. Sea- weeds diminish toward the extreme north to a very few olive-colored kinds, and seem to be more abundant north of Europe than in the American .retie regions.

Discoveries. For explorers the principal en- trance to the Arctic Ocean is the passage be- tween Xova Zembla and Franz-.Josef Land; the next most convenient entrance is through Davis Strait. American expUuers have gen- erally passed up Davis Strait, Baffin's Bay, and Smith Sound, and through the very narrow Ken- nedy Channel, but have not as yet succeeded in steaming or sailing by this route into the open Arctic Ocean; although Peary, above Green- land, and ilarkham, in Grinnell Land, reached the ocean by traveling along the shore. As to the cH'orts to reach the Xorth Pole itself, it may be stated that by the use of sledges. Parry, in 1S27, reached 82° 45', far out- stripping all ju'cvious records; Markham, of the British expedition under Xares, attained 83° 20'; Lockwood. of Greelv's exjiedition, reached S3° 24'; and Peary, in 1900, reached 83° 50'. By the passage eastward toward the New Siberian Islands and the subsequent drift in the ice-floe, Nansen's ship, the Fniiii, in 1895. reached 85° 57'; but having previously left the ship, by a sledge journey over the ice-pack, Xansen and .Johannsen reached 80° 14'. On April 26, 1900, Cagni, of Abruzzi's expedition, by a rapid march northward from Franz-Josef Land, reached 80° 33'.

Bibliography. A very good bibliography of the Arctic region is Chavanne, aided by Karpf