Annisak - Floe

Indigenous Knowledge

Annisak ᐊᓐᓂᓴᒃ
'Larger pieces of free-floating ice, where seals might be basking (bearded seals mainly?) or polar bears can be found on this ice' (Sanikiluaq Siku Terminology Workshop 2018)

Anniqsait ᐊᓐᓂᖅᓴᐃᑦ
'ᓯᑯ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔮᖅᐸᑦᑐᖅ ᒪᓕᑦᑐᖅ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᕐᒥ ᓯᖁᑦᑎᓚᐅᕋᓂ ᐊᐅᓚᐅᕋᓂᑦᑕᐅᖅ; ᓯᑯᐸᐅᔭᖅ ᐊᖏᔪᖅ [ᒪᓂᕋᑦᑕᐃᑦ]. Large ice pans that move with the ebb and flow of the current in open water, without breaking up or melting [referred to as manirattait when occurring on a smaller scale] . WMO term: floe' (North/South Qikiqtaaluk, Inuit Siku Atlas)

Puktaaq
'(1) ice floe, floating mass of ice; (2) iceberg' (North Alaska Iñupiaq, https://inupiaqonline.com/puktaaq)

Puktaaqpak
'(puktaaqpait): Very large ice floe, very large floe berg' (Seward Peninsula Inupiaq, Weyapuk Jr. and Krupnik 2012: 17)

Angengqaq
'angengqaq*: large, moving ice floe that breaks away from shore ice after an ocean swell # < ange-?' (Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Jacobson 2012: 112)

Western Knowledge

Floe
'Any relatively flat piece of ice 20 metres or more across. Floes are subdivided according to horizontal extent as follows:

Small: 20-100 metres across.

Medium: 100-500 metres across.

Big: 500-2,000 metres across.

Vast: 2-10 kilometres across.

Giant: Greater than 10 kilometres across.' (MANICE)