 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
| West Hawk Lake | |
|---|---|
 Satellite image (Landsat) | |
  West Hawk Lake Location of the lake in Manitoba  West Hawk Lake West Hawk Lake (Canada) | |
| Location | Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba |
| Coordinates | 49°45′54″N 95°11′16″W / 49.76500°N 95.18778°W |
| Type | Impact crater lake |
| Primary inflows | numerous small streams and underground springs |
| Primary outflows | Whiteshell River |
| Basin countries | Canada |
| Max. length | 4.5 km (2.8 mi) |
| Max. width | 3.6 km (2.2 mi) |
| Surface area | 16.2 km2 (6.3 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 115 m (377 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 329 m (1,079 ft) |
| Islands | 12 |
| Website | Parks and protected spaces |
West Hawk Lake is an impact crater lake on the Whiteshell River located in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. The circular shape of the main body of the lake is due to the submerged West Hawk crater, caused by a meteor impact into an ancient rock bed composed of mostly granite. At 115 metres (377 ft), it is the deepest lake in Manitoba.
Granite cliffs surround parts of the lake. This area is also known as part of the Canadian Shield that was formed billions of years ago. Parts of the Whiteshell park have elaborate petroforms that were made by First Nation peoples, possibly over a thousand years ago. There are petroform shapes of turtles, snakes, humans, and geometrical patterns, often found upon pink granite ridges that were shaped during the last ice age.
A marine glacial relict, the Deepwater sculpin is found in West Hawk Lake.[1][2]
The lake has private cottages, public beaches, campgrounds, and other tourism amenities, and extensive undeveloped shoreline, and is popular for boating, sailing, Wakeboarding, and scuba diving. It is just north of the Trans-Canada Highway, and on the Trans Canada Trail, on the border of Manitoba and Ontario.
- ^ Murray, L.; Papst, M. H.; Reist, J. D. (2003). "First Record of the Deepwater Sculpin, Myoxocephalus thompsonii, from George Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba". The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 117 (4): 642–644. doi:10.22621/cfn.v117i4.815. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
The only other Manitoba lakes with known populations of Deepwater Sculpin are Lake Athapapuskow and West Hawk Lake.
- ^ Stewart, Kenneth W.; Watkinson, Douglas A. (2004). Freshwater Fishes of Manitoba. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 9780887556784.