 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Pribilof Islands" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
ThePribilof Islands (formerly theNorthern Fur Seal Islands;Aleut:Amiq,[1]Russian:Острова Прибылова,romanized: Ostrova Pribylova) are a group of fourvolcanic islands off the coast of mainlandAlaska, in theBering Sea, about 200 miles (320 km) north ofUnalaska and 200 miles (320 km) southwest ofCape Newenham. The islands are part of theAlaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. TheSiberian coast is roughly 500 miles (800 km) northwest. About 77 square miles (200 km2) in total area, they are mostly rocky and are covered withtundra, with a population of 572 as of the2010 census.
The principal islands areSaint Paul andSaint George. The former was named for theFeast of Saints Peter and Paul, on the day of which the island was first encountered by the Russian explorerGavriil Pribylov; the latter was probably named for the ship sailed by Pribylov.[2] TheOtter andWalrus islets are near St. Paul. The total land area of all the islands is 75.072 sq mi (194.44 km2). The islands are part of the Bering Sea unit of theAlaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.[3]
While oral traditions of theAleut people maintain the islands were sparingly visited, "no ethnohistoric or archaeological evidence points to the use or occupation of the Pribilof Islands... by any native people before the Russian period in Alaska."[4] The seasonal migrations of thenorthern fur seal became known by the Russians in the 1780s. Swimming north through theAleutian Islands, the seals returned in the autumn with newly born pups. The unknown northern breeding grounds became a focus of Russian trappers. An employee of theLebedev-Lastochkin Company,Gavriil Pribylov, sailed in 1786 to discover the location, after disobeying orders to retrieve company property in theKurile Islands.[5] The rookeries Pribylov visited held upwards of four million seals, for which they became famous.[4] The islands became the site of the LLC's firstartel in what later becameRussian America.[5]
With the creation of theRussian-American Company, a monopoly, Russian operations continued on the islands. Under theAlaska Purchase sovereignty was passed to the United States in 1867. From 1870 to 1890, the U.S. government leased them to theAlaska Commercial Company. From 1890 through 1910, theNorth American Commercial Company held the monopoly on seal-hunting there, but the industry shrank considerably owing to seal-hunting on the open sea.
TheNorth Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 was signed by theUnited Kingdom,Japan,Russia, and theUnited States to restrict hunting in the area. Under theFur Seal Act[6] of 1966, hunting of the seals was forbidden in the Pribilofs, with the exception of subsistence hunting by nativeAleuts.
Ambrose Bierce suggested that the island should adopt for its motto 'locus sigilli' ("Place of theSeal (emblem)") in hisThe Devil's Dictionary.
Apost office was established for the Pribilofs in 1948 at St. Paul, with Mrs. Ruth Anderson aspostmistress.[7]
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Pribilof Islands" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Naturalist and paleontologistRoy Chapman Andrews visited the islands in 1913 aboard theschoonerAdventuress on her maiden voyage with John Borden and crew. His films of fur seals led to efforts to protect the animals. The buildings on St. George and St. Paul Islands related to the hunting of thenorthern fur seal make up thenational historic district.
Residents are concentrated in the towns ofSt. Paul andSt. George, each on the island of the same name. Many of the residents of the islands are related. St. Paul and St. George each have small airports; air service is provided from the Alaskan mainland.
St. Paul has a population of 479 (2010 census), with its economy heavily dependent on the annual taking of thesnow crab and on subsistence and commercialhalibut harvests. Support services to commercial fleets plying the waters of the Bering Sea also contribute to the economy. The balance of economic activity on the island relates to working for theUnited States Government. TheU.S. Coast Guard maintains a base on St. Paul, but no longer maintains aLORAN-C master station, as LORAN technology has been replaced bysatellite navigation. TheNational Weather Service has a station on the island, and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains a presence.
St. George has a population of 102. Its economy is similar to that of St. Paul.
The Pribilof Islands are abirdwatching attraction, home to many species that do not fly inNorth America beyond Alaska.[8][clarification needed] More than 210 species have been identified,[9] and an estimated two millionseabirds nest there annually.St. Paul is particularly popular, having a high cliff wall, known asRidge Wall, above theBering Sea.
56°50′N170°00′W / 56.833°N 170.000°W /56.833; -170.000
| Topics | |
|---|---|
| Lists by state |
|
| Lists by insular areas | |
| Lists by associated state | |
| Other areas | |
| Lists of specific structure types | |
| Related | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
