Best Subarctic

The green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) is a cold-water marine echinoderm native to the coastal environments of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Characterized by its greenish test and protective spines, the species inhabits rocky subtidal zones where it grazes on algae and kel...

The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is a vast protected coastal wetland in southwestern Alaska, United States, encompassing the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Covering approximately 19.6 million acres, it is one of the largest national wildlife refuges in North America. The refuge pro...

The Torngat Mountains Tundra is a rugged ecoregion located at the northern tip of Labrador in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Characterized by Arctic and alpine conditions, the area features towering peaks, coastal fjords, and vast rocky barrens. The landscape is largely protected within Torngat...

The Gulf of Alaska is a broad inlet of the North Pacific bounded by Alaska's southern coast and the Alexander Archipelago. Its waters are influenced by the Alaska Current, major river systems, glaciers, and frequent North Pacific storms, producing a productive but physically demanding marine environ...

The Mackenzie River Delta is an extensive alluvial wetland system located in Canada's Northwest Territories where the Mackenzie River empties into the Beaufort Sea. It represents the largest delta system in North America situated north of the Arctic Circle. The environment is characterized by a netw...

Bristol Bay is a large arm of the Bering Sea extending into the southwestern coast of Alaska in the United States. It is renowned for supporting one of the world's largest wild sockeye salmon fisheries, with annual runs yielding tens of millions of fish. The watershed feeding into the bay consists l...

Old Crow Flats is an expansive wetland complex situated in the northern Yukon territory of Canada. It is an ecologically significant region defined by thousands of shallow thermokarst lakes, which were formed by the thawing of permafrost. The area is recognized as a designated Ramsar site due to its...

Hudson Bay is a large inland sea in northeastern Canada covering approximately 1.23 million km², making it the second-largest bay in the world. Named after explorer Henry Hudson who reached it in 1610, the relatively shallow bay (averaging 100 meters in depth) is frozen for much of the year. Histori...

The Treeline Emerald is a circumboreal dragonfly species recognized for its extreme northern habitat range, often inhabiting pools near the Arctic treeline.

The Commander Islands Tundra encompasses a Russian archipelago situated in the Bering Sea, characterized by its harsh, treeless subarctic environment. The region is protected within the Komandorsky Zapovednik, a strict nature reserve established to preserve its isolated ecosystems. The islands serve...

Stordalen Mire is a subarctic peatland near Abisko in northern Sweden, located in a region of discontinuous permafrost. It is a long-term field site for research on how thawing frozen ground changes vegetation, hydrology, microbial activity, and the release or storage of carbon dioxide and methane....

Ungava Bay is a large, shallow bay located in the subarctic region of northern Quebec, Canada, separating the Ungava Peninsula from the rest of the province. It opens into the Hudson Strait and is heavily affected by sea ice, remaining frozen for much of the year. The bay experiences some of the hig...

The Slave River Delta is a large freshwater delta in Canada's Northwest Territories, formed where the Slave River enters Great Slave Lake. Its network of channels, shallow lakes, marshes, mudflats, and vegetated islands creates productive habitat for fish, muskrats, beavers, and many species of wate...

James Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada, representing the southernmost extension of Hudson Bay. It borders the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and is named after the English explorer Thomas James, who mapped the area while wintering there in 1631. The bay is characterized by its sh...

The Boreoatlantic armhook squid is a species of gonatid squid widely distributed across the subarctic and Arctic waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Reaching a maximum mantle length of approximately 30 to 35 centimeters, it is among the most abundant cephalopods in its range. The species serves as a vital...

Chukotka Tundra occupies Russia's remote northeastern corner bordering the Bering Sea, ancestral territory of Chukchi and Yupik peoples and historically connected to Alaska via the Beringia land bridge.

Kuskokwim Bay is a wide, shallow inlet of the Bering Sea situated on the western coast of Alaska. It receives the waters of the Kuskokwim River, which is the second-longest river system in the state. The surrounding region is part of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a vast, mostly treeless wetland that is...

The Saint Lawrence Island Tundra is an ecoregion encompassing Saint Lawrence Island, a large, remote landmass in the Bering Sea belonging to Alaska. The landscape is characterized by treeless arctic tundra, coastal wetlands, and rocky cliffs that support populations of seabirds, walruses, and whales...

The Pechora Tundra is a lowland Arctic ecoregion located in northeastern European Russia, primarily within the Pechora River basin. Characterized by permafrost, wetlands, and vast expanses of mosses and lichens, it serves as critical breeding habitat for migratory waterfowl and supports traditional...

Takhini Hot Springs in Yukon, Canada, is a notable geothermal facility offering year-round mineral soaking pools and hosting the region's unique annual winter Hair Freezing Contest.

Berryteuthis magister, the magistrate armhook squid, is a large gonatid squid native to the North Pacific Ocean, particularly abundant in subarctic waters off Japan, Russia, and North America. Adults reach mantle lengths exceeding 40 cm, making it one of the larger squid species in the region. It in...

The Lovozero Massif is a mountain range and geological formation on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. It's known for its unique alkaline rocks and rare mineral deposits. The massif is of particular interest to geologists and mineralogists due to its unusual geological composition, including...

Rossia megaptera is a species of bobtail squid belonging to the family Sepiolidae, inhabiting the cold, deep waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. It is a benthic cephalopod known for its proportionally large, rounded fins, which are the largest relative to body size within its genus. Like...

King Island is a small, steep island in the Bering Sea off the western coast of Alaska, near the city of Nome. Its treeless landscape supports maritime tundra vegetation and is shaped by a subarctic climate, exposed cliffs, and surrounding sea ice. The island was historically home to the Inupiat com...

Spanning a volcanic archipelago in the United States, the Aleutian Islands Tundra features a harsh maritime climate and was the site of major World War II battles.

A small sepiolid bobtail squid inhabiting cold North Atlantic and sub-Arctic shelf waters, notable for its broad circumpolar distribution in high-latitude seas.

A gonatid squid (family Gonatidae) of the North Pacific Ocean, named in honor of 19th-century Russian naturalist Alexander von Middendorff and notable for its hooked tentacular suckers.

The Subarctic Darner (Aeshna subarctica) is a circumboreal dragonfly adapted to cold climates, notable for its highly specialized breeding habits restricted strictly to sphagnum bogs across the north.

Situated in Canada's Northwest Territories, the Mackenzie River Lowlands are a notable wetland region characterized by dense spruce forests and extensive peat bogs.