Benjamin Island is an island in the City and Borough of Juneau

Juneau, Alaska

The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

, 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. It was named by Captain Lester A. Beardslee

Lester A. Beardslee

Lester Anthony Beardslee was an officer in the United States Navy who served as the commander of the Department of Alaska from June 14, 1879 to September 12, 1880, and as Captain of the USS Jamestown.-Notes:...

 of the United States Navy in 1880. Located off the eastern shore of Favorite Channel

Favorite Channel

Favorite Channel is a channel in Southeast Alaska, northwest of Juneau, Alaska, United States. It is long, extending northwest from Stephens Passage to Lynn Canal, separating Lincoln and Shelter Islands from the mainland to the east. It was named in 1880 by U.S. Navy officers after the 80-ft...

, it is 25 miles (40.2 km) northwest of the city of Juneau. The name was collected by the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 between 1976 and 1981, and entered into the Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...

 on March 31, 1981.

Benjamin Island is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) wide. It is about 0.75 miles (1.2 km) north of the Sentinel Island Light

Sentinel Island Light

The Sentinel Island Light is a lighthouse in Alaska adjacent to Lynn Canal in Alaska.-Location:Sentinel Island Light is located at the northern entrance to the Favorite Channel, between the mainland and Lincoln and Shelter Islands...

 and 0.25 mile (0.402335 km) south of North Island; it is one of the northernmost islands in Favorite Channel. The island is a part of the Channel Islands State Marine Park; it is used for picnicking and camping.

History

The Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

's SS Princess Sophia grounded on Vanderbilt Reef

Vanderbilt Reef

Vanderbilt Reef is a rocky outcropping in Lynn Canal, a fjord in Alaska, USA at . The outcropping is visible just above the water's surface....

 to the north early in the morning of October 24, 1918, in the midst of a snowstorm. The United States Lighthouse Service

United States Lighthouse Service

The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...

 tender

Lighthouse tender

A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses, or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail and transportation....

 Cedar, captained by John W. Ledbetter, had taken up sheltered at a cove of Benjamin Island when it received word of the passenger liner's plight at 14:00 that day. The Cedar left Benjamin Island almost immediately but did not reach the reef until 22:00.

Wildlife

Humpback whale

Humpback Whale

The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...

s and Steller sea lions live in the area of the island. A cow moose

Moose

The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

 was noted on the island in 2005.

A joint project between the National Marine Fisheries Service

National Marine Fisheries Service

The National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine resources and their habitat within the...

 and the University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF....

placed cameras on the island for the purposes of studying the sea lions.