With an area of 15,900 square kilometres (6,100 sq mi), it is ranked as the 35th largest river basin in Quebec.

[2] The Cree named a segment of the Little Whale River near its mouth as Wâpamekustus, which is similar to what Isbister noted in 1740.

[3] Its name has often been wrongly translated into French as Rivière de la Petite Baleine.

It mentions that the river is located a short distance south of the Gulph [sic] (that is Richmond Gulf or Lac Guillaume-Delisle in French).

[4] From 1853 to 1890, the Hudson's Bay Company operated a trading post, named after the river, at its mouth.