The Finlayson Islands are a string of Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The group lies in Dease Strait

Dease Strait

Dease Strait is an east-west waterway between the mainland's Kent Peninsula and Victoria Island in Nunavut, Canada. At its eastern end, approximately wide, is Cambridge Bay; to the west it widens to approximately and becomes Coronation Gulf. The strait is long.-External links:*...

, approximately 12 mi (19.3 km) from Cape Alexander, south of Victoria Island and north of the mainland's Kent Peninsula

Kent Peninsula

The Kent Peninsula is a large peninsula, almost totally surrounded by water, in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic mainland. From a narrow isthmus, it extends westward into the Coronation Gulf. It is south of Dease Strait which separates the peninsula from Victoria Island and the Finlayson...

. The community of Cambridge Bay is approximately 23 mi (37 km) to the east.

An early survey was made by Sir Richard Collinson

Richard Collinson

Sir Richard Collinson was an English naval officer and explorer of the Arctic.He was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, then part of County Durham...

 on board the Enterprise

HMS Enterprise (1848)

HMS Enterprise was an Arctic discovery ship laid down as a merchant vessel and purchased in 1848 before launch to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two Arctic voyages before becoming a coal depot, and was finally sold in 1903...

during his search for Sir John Franklin

John Franklin

Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...

's lost expedition. Collinson noted the islands to be a basalt ridge running south/southeast. The largest measures 2 sq mi (5.18 km²) long by 0.75 sq mi (1.94 km²) wide.

Colonies of Thayer's Gull

Thayer's Gull

The Thayer's Gull is a large gull native to North America that breeds in the Arctic islands of Canada and primarily winters on the Pacific coast, from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, though there are also wintering populations on the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River...

 and Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere and the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the USA, also on the Great...

are located on one of the larger islands.