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CA-K216Places & geography

Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Arctic whaling base

Pauline Cove on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Yukon, photographed in 2025.
Pauline Cove on Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), Yukon, photographed in 2025. 2025-08-21 Qikiqtaruk Herschel Island 4 · Carina Gsottbauer · Photo source · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

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Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island), off the Yukon coast, became the principal base for American whalers in the western Arctic in 1890. Parks Canada’s commemorative plaque records a community of about 2,000 whalers and Inuit during the peak winter of 1894–1895.

Scope & context

The island’s whaling-era history as described in its 1972 plaque, not the much longer Inuvialuit history of Qikiqtaruk or its territorial park today.

Sources behind this record

1