Grey Goose Island is one of several, larger, uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in 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...

, Canada

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...

 located within the midsection of James Bay

James Bay

James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...

. Other comparable islands in the area include the Bear Islands

Bear Islands

The uninhabited Bear Islands are located in James Bay, southeast of the Belcher Islands. They are part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. They are made up of the North Bear Island and South Bay Island. Nearby is Sunday Island....

, North and South Twin Island

South Twin Island (Nunavut)

South Twin Island is an uninhabited Arctic island located east of Akimiski Island toward the center of James Bay. The larger, similarly-shaped, North Twin Island is located approximately 10 km northwest. South Twin Island has more mossy tundra and fewer trees than North Twin Island...

s, Spencer Island

Spencer Island

Spencer Island is one of several uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada located within James Bay. It is situated northwest from North Twin Island. During surveys in James Bay, polar bears were sighted using the island for summer refuge....

, Sunday Island

Sunday Island (Nunavut)

Sunday Island is one of several uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada located within James Bay. Nearby are the Bear Islands.The island is surveyed for polar bear summer refuge....

, and Walter Island

Walter Island

Walter Island is one of several uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada located within James Bay. It is in size, and is situated east of North Twin Island.The island takes part in surveys for polar bear summer refuge....

. La Grande River

La Grande River

La Grande River is a river in northwestern Quebec, Canada, which rises in the highlands of north central Quebec and flows roughly west to drain into James Bay. It is the second largest river in Quebec, surpassed only by the Saint Lawrence River....

 and the Cree

Cree

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

 village of Chisasibi, Quebec

Chisasibi, Quebec

Chisasibi is a village on the eastern shore of James Bay, in the Eeyou Istchee territory in northern Quebec, Canada. It is situated on the south shore of La Grande River , less than from the river's mouth...

 are 65 km (40.4 mi) to the southeast.

The island is low-lying and flat, dominated by rock and sand. It is devoid of trees, although there are grasses and other hardy plants. It is frequented by Arctic fox

Arctic fox

The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...

, Ringed seal

Ringed Seal

The ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...

, Beluga whale, caribou, and polar bear

Polar Bear

The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...

s. A major migration route for geese, notable bird populations include American Pipit, Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...

, Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

The Black Guillemot or Tystie is a medium-sized alcid.Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill, and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large...

, 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...

, Common Loon, Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

The Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic...

, Gyrfalcon

Gyrfalcon

The Gyrfalcon — Falco rusticolus — is the largest of the falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and the islands of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly resident there also, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter.Individual vagrancy...

, Herring Gull

American Herring Gull

The American Herring Gull or Smithsonian Gull is a large gull which breeds in North America. It is often treated as a subspecies of the European Herring Gull but is now regarded as a separate species by some authorities.Adults are white with gray back and wings, black wingtips with white spots,...

, Pacific Loon, Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

The Purple Sandpiper, Calidris, Arquatella or Erolia maritima is a small shorebird.Adults have short yellow legs and a medium thin dark bill with a yellow base. The body is dark on top with a slight purplish gloss and mainly white underneath. The breast is smeared with grey and the rump is black...

, Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

The Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans....

, Red-throated Loon, and Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover

The Semipalmated Plover is a small plover.This species weighs and measures in length and across the wings. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband...

.

History

Grey Goose Island's history includes a visit by Robert J. Flaherty

Robert J. Flaherty

Robert Joseph Flaherty, F.R.G.S. was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature length documentary film, Nanook of the North...

 in 1910 during the First MacKenzie Expedition, as well as the stranding of the MV North Star IV in 1961 after it hit an uncharted rock.

During the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 period of 1958 to 1965, Canada permitted the United States to practice high altitude photo reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 over Grey Goose Island with the RB-52C Stratofortress

B-52 Stratofortress

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...

. M120 photoflash bombs were used, and possibly practice bombs. Small caliber machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

 rounds may have been fired. Because of the possibility that unexploded explosive ordnance

Unexploded ordnance

Unexploded ordnance are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, potentially many decades after they were used or discarded.While "UXO" is widely and informally used, munitions and explosives of...

 or other munitions are buried in the ground, or may still remain on the island, Canada’s Department of National Defence

Department of National Defence (Canada)

The Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...

 has retained the area. However, occasionally, the island's wildlife resources are harvested by the Cree.