The Ottawa Islands are a group of uninhabited islands situated in the eastern edge of Canada's

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...

 Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

. The group comprises 24 small islands, located at approximately 60N 80W. The main islands include Booth Island

Booth Island (Nunavut)

Booth Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay....

, Bronson Island

Bronson Island

Bronson Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay....

, Eddy Island

Eddy Island

Eddy Island is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay, it is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands....

, Gilmour Island

Gilmour Island

Gilmour Island is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay. The highest point is over ....

, J. Gordon Island

J. Gordon Island

J. Gordon Island is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay....

, Pattee Island

Pattee Island

Pattee Island is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay....

, and Perley Island

Perley Island

Perley Island is an uninhabited island in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of 24 islands that make up the Ottawa Islands, situated in the eastern portion of Hudson Bay....

. The highest point is on Gilmour Island, which rises to over 1800 ft (548.6 m). Located a short distance off the northwest coast of Quebec's Ungava Peninsula

Ungava Peninsula

The Ungava Peninsula of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east. The Ungava Peninsula is part of the Labrador Peninsula and covers about 252,000 km²...

, they, like the other coastal islands in Hudson Bay, were historically part of the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

, and became part of the territory of 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...

 upon its creation in 1999.

Geography

The Ottawa Islands are situated on the barren and rocky east coast of Hudson Bay. By 1610 Hudson Bay had been explored and named by Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...

 in his quest for a Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...

. It wasn't until 1631 when Luke Fox

Luke Fox

Luke Foxe was an English explorer, born in Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, who searched for the Northwest Passage across North America. In 1631, he sailed much of the western Hudson Bay before concluding no such passage was possible. Foxe Basin, Foxe Channel and Foxe Peninsula were named after him...

e (or Fox) on a voyage from "Vltimum Vale" (Cape Henrietta Maria), near 57° 40', indicated that "Mr. Hudson calls those islands by the name of 'Lancaster's Iles.' " According to historian T.H. Manning, there is no other record of Henry Hudson naming islands in that region. A little further north, near 58° 5', Capt.

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

 Foxe says "Wee came by a small Iland at clocke one, the highest I haue seene since I came from Brook Cobham; the deep 70 fathome. I named the Ile Sleepe." Foxe named the islands just north of Lancaster Isle, "Ile Sleepe". According to Manning, the name, having eventually changed to "Sleeper Island" or "The Sleepers", could be used "for the islands between and including Lancaster and Ottawa Islands."

Fauna

The Ottawa Islands and the southwardly Belcher Islands

Belcher Islands

The Belcher Islands are an archipelago in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in Hudson Bay, the Belcher Islands are spread out over almost . The hamlet of Sanikiluaq is on the north coast of Flaherty Island and is the southernmost in Nunavut. Along with Flaherty Island, the other large...

 are a breeding ground for "the Hudson Bay subspecies of the Common Eider

Common Eider

The Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on...

". In 1765 commercial whaling of bowheads was started by Churchill-based sloops of the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 with some whales being harvested in the Ottawa Islands. By 1992 and 1993, hunters from Inukjuak

Inukjuak, Quebec

Inukjuak , alternatively spelled Inoucdjouac, former name and current postal name Port Harrison, is an Inuit settlement located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Innuksuak River in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, Canada. Its population is 1,294...

 failed to located any walruses.

External links

• http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map/topographicmap_view?mapsize=428+380&scale=5000000.000000&mapxy=800387.8343108902+1253023.3842336104&mode=zoomin&lat=59.5833000008&long=-80.2667000014&searchstring=ottawa&location1=62&unique_key=0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc&feature_na=Ottawa+Islands&entity=ISL&layers=fapfeature%20north_arrow%20other_features%20million_grid%20t50k_grid%20grid_50k_3%20roads%20hydrography%20boundary%20builtup%20vegetation%20populated_places%20railway%20power_network%20manmade_features%20designated_areas%20water_features%20water_saturated_soils%20relief%20contours%20toponymy%20contour%20nodata_ntdb_50k&hidetextbox=&urlappend=%26map_textzoom03_feature%3Dnew%26map_textzoom03_feature_points%3D802343.215481%201252496.91677%26map_textzoom03_class_text%3DOttawa+Islands%26map_textzoom46_feature%3Dnew%26map_textzoom46_feature_points%3D802343.215481%201252496.91677%26map_textzoom46_class_text%3DOttawa+Islands%26map_polygonresultzoom0_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom0_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_polygonresultzoom1_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom1_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_polygonresultzoom2_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom2_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_polygonresultzoom0outline_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom0outline_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_polygonresultzoom1outline_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom1outline_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_polygonresultzoom2outline_data%3Dfap_isl%26map_polygonresultzoom2outline_class_expression%3D0cf9f326849c20c37ca00f89f6c16cfc%26map_arrowzoom03_feature%3Dnew%26map_arrowzoom03_feature_points%3D802343.215481%201252496.91677Toparama - Topographic Maps from Natural Resources Canada]
• 2006 Beluga Statistics From Weekly Reports (Contains a map of the region)
• The Atlas of Canada, map of Ottawa Islands from 1976
• Plant and Phytoplankton study of Hudson Bay