Heceta Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago

Alexander Archipelago

The Alexander Archipelago is a long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the...

 of southeastern Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It lies just off the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. Kosciusko Island

Kosciusko Island

Kosciusko Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, USA. It lies near the northwest corner of Prince of Wales Island, just across the El Capitan Passage from the larger island. Kosciusko Island has a land area of 171.585 sq mi , making it the 38th largest island in...

 lies to its north, while Tuxekan Island lies to its northeast. Directly to its south are the Maurelle Islands group, while further south are Noyes Island

Noyes Island

Noyes Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska, United States. It lies just to the west of Prince of Wales Island. It was named in 1879 by William Healy Dall of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey after William M. Noyes, also of the USC&GS, who was stationed in Alaska...

, Lulu Island, and San Fernando Island. The island's area is 181.0 km² (69.88 sq mi).

The island was given its name by W. H. Dall

W. H. Dall

William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...

 in 1879, in honor of Bruno de Heceta

Bruno de Heceta

Bruno de Heceta y Dudagoitia was a Spanish Basque explorer of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Bilbao of an old Basque family, he was sent by the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, to explore the area north of Alta California in response to information that there were colonial...

.