Captain Horatio Austin, on board the ship Resolute and seeking the lost Sir John Franklin expedition, wintered off Griffith Island in 1851. Explorations that winter by second master, George F. McDougall, included McDougall Sound, the waterway to the north of Griffith Island.[3]
Griffith Island is 18 by 11 km (11.2 by 6.8 mi),[4] and 189 km2 (73 sq mi) in area.[5]
Since 1958, the southeast coast of Griffith Island has experienced uncommon change, from discontinuous flying spits to continuous fringing barriers.[6]
On April 25, 2021, a Great Slave Helicopters owned helicopter that was surveying polar bear populations crashed on Griffith Island, killing all three on board.[7]