Saint Paul Island, Alaska
Encyclopedia
Saint Paul Island is the largest of the Pribilof Islands
, a group of five Alaska
n volcanic islands located in the Bering Sea
between the United States and Russia
. The city of St. Paul
is the only residential area on the island. The two nearest islands to Saint Paul Island are Otter Island
to the southwest, and Walrus Island
to the east. St. Paul Island has a land area of 40 square miles (103.6 km²). St. Paul Island currently has one school (K-12, 100 students), one post office, one bar, one small store, and one church (the Russian Orthodox Sts. Peter and Paul Church
). The church is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
.
Saint Paul is the largest of the Pribilof Islands and lies the furthest north. With a width of 7.66 mi (12.3 km) at its widest point and a length of 13.5 mi (21.7 km) on its longest axis (which runs from northeast to southwest), it has a total area of 43 mi2. Volcanic in origin, Saint Paul features a number of cinder cone
s and volcanic crater
s in its interior. The highest of these, Rush Hill, rises to 665 ft (202.7 m) on the island's western shore, though most of the upland
areas average less than 150 ft (45.7 m) in elevation. Most of the island is a low-lying mix of rocky plateaus and valleys, with some of the valleys holding freshwater ponds. Much of its 45.5 mi (73.2 km) of shoreline is rugged and rocky, rising to sheer cliffs at several headlands, though long sandy beaches backed by shifting sand dunes flank a number of shallow bays.
Like the other Pribilof Islands, Saint Paul rises from a basalt
ic base. Its hills are primarily brown or red tufa
and cinder heaps, though some (like Polavina) are composed of red scoria
and breccia
.
The island sits on the southern edge of the Bering-Chukchi platform, and may have been part of the Bering Land Bridge
's southern coastline when the last ice age's glacier
s reached their maximum expansion. Sediment core sample
s taken on Saint Paul show that tundra
vegetation similar to that found on the island today has been present for at least 9,000 years. The thick rough turf is dominated by umbellifers (particularly Angelica
) and Artemisia, though grasses and sedges are also abundant.
The Aleut peoples knew of the Pribilofs long before westerners discovered the islands. They called the islands Amiq, Aleut
for "land of mother's brother" or "related land". According to their oral tradition
, the son of an Unimak Island
elder found them after paddling north in his boat in an attempt to survive a storm that caught him out at sea; when the winds finally died, he was lost in dense fog—until he heard the sounds of Saint Paul's vast seal
colonies.
Russian fur traders were the first non-natives to discover Saint Paul. The island was discovered by Gavriil Pribylov on St. Peter and St. Paul's Day, July 12, 1788. Three years later the Russian merchant vessel John the Baptist was shipwrecked off the shore. The crew were listed as missing until 1793, when the survivors were rescued by Gerasim Izmailov
.
In the 18th century Russians forced Aleuts from the Aleutian chain (several hundred miles south of the Pribilofs) to hunt seal for them on the Pribilof Islands. Before this the Pribilofs were not regularly inhabited. The Aleuts were essentially slave labor for the Russians; hunting, cleaning, preparing fur seal skins which the Russians sold for a great deal of money. The Aleuts were not taken back to their home islands, lived in inhumane conditions, were beaten, and were regulated by the Russians down to what they could eat and wear and whom they could marry.
Saints Peter and Paul Church
, a Russian Orthodox church, was built on the island in 1830.
is strongly influenced by the cold ocean that surrounds the island. It experiences a relatively narrow range of temperatures, high wind, humidity and cloudiness levels, and persistent summer fog
. February is the island's coldest month, while August is its warmest; the difference between the average low temperature in February and the average high temperature in August is only 30˚F (16˚C). Although the mean average temperature for the year is above freezing, at 35 °F (1.7 °C), temperatures below freezing are common during the winter; the average low temperature in winter is 20 °F (-6.7 °C), and low temperatures below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) occur an average of seven times per year. The island's all-time record high temperature is 66 °F (18.9 °C). Winds are strong and persistent year-round, averaging around 15 mile per hour. They are strongest from late autumn through winter, when they increase to an average of nearly 20 mile per hour, blowing mostly from the north. In the summer, they become weaker and blow primarily from the south.
The island's humidity level, which averages more than 80 percent year round, is highest during the summer. Cloud cover levels peak during the summer as well. Although high year-round, with an average of 88 percent, cloud cover levels rise to 95 percent in the summer. Fog too is more common in the summer, occurring on roughly one-third of the days. The island receives roughly 23 in (58.4 cm) of precipitation
per year, with the highest monthly totals occurring between late summer and early winter, when Bering Sea storms batter the island. Snowfall levels are highest between December and March, averaging 57 in (144.8 cm) per year. Other than trace amounts, the period from June to September is generally snow-free. High winds and relatively warm temperatures combine to keep snow levels low, resulting in monthly mean snow depths of less than 8 in (20.3 cm). Hours of daylight range from a low of 6.5 hours in midwinter to a high of 18 hours in midsummer.
. Its seabird cliffs were purchased in 1982 for inclusion in the refuge. The island has also been designated as an Important Bird Area
.
It is the breeding grounds for more than 500,000 northern fur seals and millions of sea bird
s, and is surrounded by one of the world's richest fishing
grounds.
A dwarf variety
of mammoth
survived on Saint Paul Island until c.3,750 BC, which is the most recent survival of North American mammoth populations.
Saint Paul Island has the largest Aleut community in the United States, one of the U.S. government's
officially recognized Native American
tribal entities of Alaska. Out of a total population of 532 people, 457 of them (86 percent) are Alaska Natives.
Some of the islands residents only stay part of the year and work in the crab and boat yards. The large boats that have been fishing the Bering Sea
offload their fish onto the island and workers prepare them for shipping around the world. The native peoples of the island (Aleut tribe), who make up the vast majority of the population, are Russian Orthodox, if they consider themselves religious.
based electric and thermal cogeneration facility was widely regarded as the more technologically advanced wind energy power projects in America. The TDX Power wind/diesel
hybrid facility is known for its efficiency and reduction in diesel fuel consumption. The 120 feet (36.6 m)-tall turbine is a major point of pride for the ecologically conscious Aleut community of Saint Paul.
Pribilof Islands
The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberia coast is roughly northwest...
, a group of five 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...
n volcanic islands located in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
between the United States and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The city of St. Paul
St. Paul, Alaska
St. Paul is a city in Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is the main settlement of Saint Paul Island in the Pribilofs, a small island group in the Bering Sea. Saint Paul Island is well known as a birdwatching haven. The population was 532 at the 2000 census.-Geography:St. Paul...
is the only residential area on the island. The two nearest islands to Saint Paul Island are Otter Island
Otter Island, Alaska
Otter Island is a small island located southwest of Saint Paul Island, Alaska, in the Bering Sea. It is a member of the Pribilof Islands. Its land area is 165.21 acres and there is no resident population. The highest point on the island is above sea level. The island is closed to...
to the southwest, and Walrus Island
Walrus Island
Walrus Island is a small islet located 15 km east of Saint Paul Island, Alaska in the Bering Sea. It is part of the Pribilof Islands group. Its length is and its area is 50.3 acres . There is no resident population....
to the east. St. Paul Island has a land area of 40 square miles (103.6 km²). St. Paul Island currently has one school (K-12, 100 students), one post office, one bar, one small store, and one church (the Russian Orthodox Sts. Peter and Paul Church
Sts. Peter and Paul Church (St. Paul Island, Alaska)
Sts. Peter and Paul Church is a Russian Orthodox church built in 1907 on St. Paul Island, Alaska. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.It is included in a thematic resources study published by the U.S. National Park Service...
). The church is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Geography and geology
Cinder cone
According to the , Cinder Cone is the proper name of 1 cinder cone in Canada and 7 cinder cones in the United States:In Canada: Cinder Cone In the United States:...
s and volcanic crater
Volcanic crater
A volcanic crater is a circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a basin, circular in form within which occurs a vent from which magma erupts as gases, lava, and ejecta. A crater can be of large dimensions, and sometimes of great depth...
s in its interior. The highest of these, Rush Hill, rises to 665 ft (202.7 m) on the island's western shore, though most of the upland
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
areas average less than 150 ft (45.7 m) in elevation. Most of the island is a low-lying mix of rocky plateaus and valleys, with some of the valleys holding freshwater ponds. Much of its 45.5 mi (73.2 km) of shoreline is rugged and rocky, rising to sheer cliffs at several headlands, though long sandy beaches backed by shifting sand dunes flank a number of shallow bays.
Like the other Pribilof Islands, Saint Paul rises from a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic base. Its hills are primarily brown or red tufa
Tufa
Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot-springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine...
and cinder heaps, though some (like Polavina) are composed of red scoria
Scoria
Scoria is a volcanic rock containing many holes or vesicles. It is most generally dark in color , and basaltic or andesitic in composition. Scoria is relatively low in mass as a result of its numerous macroscopic ellipsoidal vesicles, but in contrast to pumice, all scoria has a specific gravity...
and breccia
Breccia
Breccia is a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix, that can be either similar to or different from the composition of the fragments....
.
The island sits on the southern edge of the Bering-Chukchi platform, and may have been part of the Bering Land Bridge
Bering land bridge
The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...
's southern coastline when the last ice age's glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s reached their maximum expansion. Sediment core sample
Core sample
A core sample is a cylindrical section of a naturally occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core hole". A...
s taken on Saint Paul show that tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
vegetation similar to that found on the island today has been present for at least 9,000 years. The thick rough turf is dominated by umbellifers (particularly Angelica
Angelica
Angelica is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far North as Iceland and Lapland...
) and Artemisia, though grasses and sedges are also abundant.
History
Aleut language
Aleut is a language of the Eskimo–Aleut language family. It is the heritage language of the Aleut people living in the Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, and Commander Islands. As of 2007 there were about 150 speakers of Aleut .- Dialects :Aleut is alone with the Eskimo languages in the...
for "land of mother's brother" or "related land". According to their oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
, the son of an Unimak Island
Unimak Island
Unimak Island is the largest island in the Aleutian Islands chain of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the easternmost island in the Aleutians and, with an area of 1,571.41 mi² , the ninth largest island in the United States and the 134th largest island in the world. It is home to Mount...
elder found them after paddling north in his boat in an attempt to survive a storm that caught him out at sea; when the winds finally died, he was lost in dense fog—until he heard the sounds of Saint Paul's vast seal
Northern Fur Seal
The Northern fur seal is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily and the only species in the genus Callorhinus.-Physical description:Northern fur seals have extreme sexual dimorphism, with males...
colonies.
Russian fur traders were the first non-natives to discover Saint Paul. The island was discovered by Gavriil Pribylov on St. Peter and St. Paul's Day, July 12, 1788. Three years later the Russian merchant vessel John the Baptist was shipwrecked off the shore. The crew were listed as missing until 1793, when the survivors were rescued by Gerasim Izmailov
Gerasim Izmailov
Gerasim Grigoryevich Izmaylov was a Russian navigator involved in the Russian colonization of the Americas and in the establishment of the colonies of Russian America in Alaska. He was responsible for the first detailed maps of the Aleutian Islands....
.
In the 18th century Russians forced Aleuts from the Aleutian chain (several hundred miles south of the Pribilofs) to hunt seal for them on the Pribilof Islands. Before this the Pribilofs were not regularly inhabited. The Aleuts were essentially slave labor for the Russians; hunting, cleaning, preparing fur seal skins which the Russians sold for a great deal of money. The Aleuts were not taken back to their home islands, lived in inhumane conditions, were beaten, and were regulated by the Russians down to what they could eat and wear and whom they could marry.
Saints Peter and Paul Church
Sts. Peter and Paul Church (St. Paul Island, Alaska)
Sts. Peter and Paul Church is a Russian Orthodox church built in 1907 on St. Paul Island, Alaska. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.It is included in a thematic resources study published by the U.S. National Park Service...
, a Russian Orthodox church, was built on the island in 1830.
Climate
Saint Paul's climateClimate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
is strongly influenced by the cold ocean that surrounds the island. It experiences a relatively narrow range of temperatures, high wind, humidity and cloudiness levels, and persistent summer fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
. February is the island's coldest month, while August is its warmest; the difference between the average low temperature in February and the average high temperature in August is only 30˚F (16˚C). Although the mean average temperature for the year is above freezing, at 35 °F (1.7 °C), temperatures below freezing are common during the winter; the average low temperature in winter is 20 °F (-6.7 °C), and low temperatures below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) occur an average of seven times per year. The island's all-time record high temperature is 66 °F (18.9 °C). Winds are strong and persistent year-round, averaging around 15 mile per hour. They are strongest from late autumn through winter, when they increase to an average of nearly 20 mile per hour, blowing mostly from the north. In the summer, they become weaker and blow primarily from the south.
The island's humidity level, which averages more than 80 percent year round, is highest during the summer. Cloud cover levels peak during the summer as well. Although high year-round, with an average of 88 percent, cloud cover levels rise to 95 percent in the summer. Fog too is more common in the summer, occurring on roughly one-third of the days. The island receives roughly 23 in (58.4 cm) of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
per year, with the highest monthly totals occurring between late summer and early winter, when Bering Sea storms batter the island. Snowfall levels are highest between December and March, averaging 57 in (144.8 cm) per year. Other than trace amounts, the period from June to September is generally snow-free. High winds and relatively warm temperatures combine to keep snow levels low, resulting in monthly mean snow depths of less than 8 in (20.3 cm). Hours of daylight range from a low of 6.5 hours in midwinter to a high of 18 hours in midsummer.
Natural history
Saint Paul Island, like all of the Pribilof Islands, is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife RefugeAlaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of , of which is wilderness)...
. Its seabird cliffs were purchased in 1982 for inclusion in the refuge. The island has also been designated as an Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
.
It is the breeding grounds for more than 500,000 northern fur seals and millions of sea bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, and is surrounded by one of the world's richest fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
grounds.
A dwarf variety
Dwarf elephant
Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea, that, through the process of allopatric speciation, evolved to a fraction of the size of their immediate ancestors...
of mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
survived on Saint Paul Island until c.3,750 BC, which is the most recent survival of North American mammoth populations.
Population
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
officially recognized Native American
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
tribal entities of Alaska. Out of a total population of 532 people, 457 of them (86 percent) are Alaska Natives.
Some of the islands residents only stay part of the year and work in the crab and boat yards. The large boats that have been fishing the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
offload their fish onto the island and workers prepare them for shipping around the world. The native peoples of the island (Aleut tribe), who make up the vast majority of the population, are Russian Orthodox, if they consider themselves religious.
Wind power
TDX Power's first energy generation facility was built on St. Paul Island. Completed in 1999, the wind energyWind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
based electric and thermal cogeneration facility was widely regarded as the more technologically advanced wind energy power projects in America. The TDX Power wind/diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
hybrid facility is known for its efficiency and reduction in diesel fuel consumption. The 120 feet (36.6 m)-tall turbine is a major point of pride for the ecologically conscious Aleut community of Saint Paul.
Popular culture
- The island is often mentioned on The Discovery Channel's show Deadliest CatchDeadliest CatchDeadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
. St. Paul island is a place where the fishing boats in the Bering SeaBering SeaThe Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
can dock the boats to rest, unload, or get medical help. - The island is the scene of the Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
story "The White Seal" and poem "Lukannon" in The Jungle BookThe Jungle BookThe Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
.