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Depot Island
Depot Island is located not far from the coast between the current community of Chesterfield Inlet/Igluligaarjuk and the overwintering port of Cape Fullerton further north. In 1860, brothers Christopher B. and Edward Chapel were the first US captains to venture into Hudson Bay. In their first season in the bay, the Chapel brothers overwintered near Depot Island in command of the Syren Queen and Northern Light. After the Chapel brothers, several other whalers frequented the Depot Island overwintering site for several good reasons.
As opposed to the Marble Island overwintering site, the proximity of the Inuit facilitated the supply of fresh meat on a more regular basis at the Depot Island site where, as at the Cape Fullerton site, contact between the Inuit and whalers was frequent and greatly facilitated by the ice conditions that allowed free traffic between the islands and the coast all winter. At that time, the Inuit population near Depot Island and Cape Fullerton was mainly comprised of Aiviligmiut and, to a lesser degree, Netsilingmiut and Qaernermiut.
However, despite the assurance of more secure food supply, the navigators did not like the Depot Island site at all. Some found it too small to be satisfactory, and the nearby archipelago of islands and small bays such as Pearson's Harbour, Handy Harbour and Winchester Inlet also provided good winter shelter. Due to dangerous navigation conditions, whalers never liked the site as much as Marble Island.