AKPATOK ISLAND

Akpatok Island (60 25' N, 68 10' W in Ungava Bay, NE Canada) is famous for Walrus, Polar Bears, Thick-billed Murres, and scenery. The Island itself is of limestone. It is a flat plateau 14 miles (23 km) wide, 28 miles (45 km) long, and 500 feet (152 m) to 800 feet (244 m) high. The plateau is almost inaccessible except by air because it terminates in sheer cliffs reaching down to sea level. The cliffs are broken in a few places by ravines and these allow access. While it is often visited by the Inuit to hunt walrus, the hunters seldom climb to the heights above, being satisfied to dress their game and return home before the meat spoils.

Akpatok is infamous for widespread cannibalism which lasted till 1900 when the inhabitants left the island and moved to the mainland.