Roes Welcome Sound

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Coordinates: 65°00′00″N 88°00′00″W / 65, -88

Roes Welcome Sound is an Arctic Ocean waterway located in Nunavut's Foxe Basin. It opens north to Repulse Bay, and is located between the mainland and Southampton Island, 200 km (120 mi) north of Marble Island.[1] Roes Welcome Sound measures 290 km (180 mi) long, and 24 km (15 mi) to 113 km (70 mi) wide.[2]

It is named after Sir Thomas Roe, friend and sponsor of explorer Luke Fox's 1631 Arctic voyage.[3][4] Capt. Parry, trying to find the Northwest Passage during his 1821 voyage, wrote:[5]

"On an inspection of the charts, I think it will also appear probable that a communication will one day be found to exist between this inlet (Prince Regent's) and Hudson's Bay, either through the broad and unexplored channel called Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome, or through Repulse Bay, which has not yet been satisfactorily examined."

Roes Welcome Sound is a bowhead whale migratory path, discussed in W. Gillies Ross' 1974 published paper, Distribution, Migration, and Depletion of Bowhead Whales in Hudson Bay, 1860 to 1915.[6]

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