In the following year he almost circumnavigated the island but was again frozen in at Mercy Bay where he and his crew spent the next three months before making their escape across the ice.

[6] The island is treeless, with the tallest plant, the Arctic willow, growing occasionally to about the height of a person's knee but usually standing no taller than 10 cm (3.9 in).

Banks Island is home to a large colony of lesser snow geese, which make their way across the Amundsen Gulf from the mainland.

The island is home to barren-ground caribou, polar bears, muskoxen, and birds, including year round residents the common raven and ptarmigan.

"[7] The first confirmed grizzly–polar bear hybrid found in the wild was shot on Banks Island in April 2006, near Sachs Harbour.

Banks Island has a tundra climate (Köppen ET) typical of the Canadian Arctic with long, cold winters and short, cool summers.

In July 2010, Parks Canada archaeologists looking for HMS Investigator found it 15 minutes after they started a sonar scan of Banks Island's Mercy Bay.