 Kolyuchin Island | |
 Location of Kolyuchin Island | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 67°28′N174°37′W / 67.467°N 174.617°W /67.467; -174.617 |
| Length | 4.5 km (2.8 mi) |
| Width | 1.5 km (0.93 mi) |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Kolyuchin Island orKoliuchin Island (Russian:Остров Колючин,Chukot:Кувлючьин,romanized: Kuvlyuch'in) is a small island in theChukchi Sea. It is not far from the coast, being only 11 km (6.8 mi) from the northern shore of theChukotka Peninsula. Its latitude is 67° 28' N and its longitude 174° 37' W.
This island is 4.5 km (2.8 mi) in length and its maximum width is 1.5 km (0.93 mi). It is covered withtundravegetation. There was a smallChukchi settlement on the southern end of the island calledKolyuchino but as of 1987, there was no village and very rare traces of former human presence such as separate logs and coals.[1]
On the nearby shore there is the settlement ofNutepel'men, located north of theRypatynonel'gyn Lagoon and south of thePyngopil'gyn Lagoon.Kolyuchinskaya Bay, further south, is named after Kolyuchin Island. Administratively this island and its surrounding area belongs to theChukotka Autonomous Okrug of theRussian Federation.
The Russian name of the island comes from a corruption of theChukchi wordКувлючьин (Kuvlyuch'in) – "round". In theChaplino dialect of theCentral Siberian Yupik language its name isКулусик (Kulusik) – "separateice floe".[2] When the island was visited byJames Cook during an expedition, he named itBurney's Island.[3]
In September 1933Soviet ice-breakerChelyuskin got crushed by pack ice near Kolyuchin Island. The passengers and crew were rescued by air in a dramatic and much publicised operation which made heroes ofCaptain Vladimir Voronin and expedition leaderOtto Schmidt.
In 1943 a polar research station was transferred fromCape Dzhenretlen [ru] to the western part of the island, staffed by 3-4 people by the late 1980s. The last director of the station, Alexey Spasskin, launched an amateur radio service from the island in 1989 with the call nameУЖ1ПОЛ/УА10 and the callsign АС65. The station was ultimately closed in February 1992.[4][5] In September 2025, drone footage revealed that the research station has now been taken over by a group of polar bears.[6]
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