Walrus and Kritskoi Islands
Encyclopedia
Walrus Island, in the southeastern shore of Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...

 in Aleutians East Borough
Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
- See also :*List of airports in the Aleutians East Borough*National Register of Historic Places listings in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska-External links:*-References:...

, should not be confused with the Walrus Islands
Walrus Islands
The Walrus Islands are a group of craggy coastal islands in the Bering Sea, close to the northern shores of Bristol Bay, Alaska at the entrance to Togiak Bay. They are located 18 km to the east of Hagemeister Island....

 in the Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary, located close to Hagemeister Island
Hagemeister Island
Hagemeister Island is an island in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the north shore of Bristol Bay at the entrance to Togiak Bay.The island is long, has a land area of , and its highest point is...

 in the Dillingham Census Area
Dillingham Census Area, Alaska
Dillingham Census Area is a census area located in the state of Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 4,922. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat...

 in the northern edge of the bay, or with tiny Walrus Island located in the Pribilof group
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...

.


Walrus Island

The Walrus and Kritskoi Islands are a group of small islands 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....

, close to the coast of 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...

. The group is part of a cluster of other small coastal islands called the Kudobin Islands
Kudobin Islands
The Kudobin Islands are a group of small islands in the Bering Sea, near the coast of Alaska, West of Port Moller; Bristol Bay Low. The group includes a cluster of other small coastal islands, Walrus and Kritskoi Islands, forming a geographical whole....

.

The Walrus and Kritskoi Islands are located close to Nelson Lagoon, 9 miles (14.5 km) to the West of Port Moller, on the Alaska Peninsula
Alaska Peninsula
The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea....

 (southern) side of Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...

, Low.

The largest island is Walrus, being about 23.5 km long and 3 Km wide. The islands are flat, the highest point on Walrus Island being only 1 m.

Etymology

These coastal islands were renamed in 1882 by W. H. Dall, USC&GS. Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 Captain Litke
Fyodor Petrovich Litke
Count Fyodor Petrovich Litke , born Friedrich Benjamin Lütke, was a Russian navigator, geographer, and Arctic explorer. He became a count in 1866, and an admiral in 1855. He was a Corresponding Member , Honorable Member , and President of the Russian Academy of Science in St.Petersburg...

 (1836) had named Walrus Island as "Volchie," meaning "wolf," in 1836. This name is now applied to the eastern tip of this feature.


Kritskoi Island



One of Kudobin Islands
Kudobin Islands
The Kudobin Islands are a group of small islands in the Bering Sea, near the coast of Alaska, West of Port Moller; Bristol Bay Low. The group includes a cluster of other small coastal islands, Walrus and Kritskoi Islands, forming a geographical whole....

, 16 miles (25.7 km) West of village of Port Moller, Alaska, Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...

 Low.

Kritskoi Island is only 3.3 km long, but with a height of 4 m it is noticeably higher than Walrus.

Etymology

Kritskoi Island was named "Kritskoi ile" by Capt. Lutke (1836, p. 261), IRN
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

. He erroneously called it "L'ile aux Loups," or "wolf island," on his Chart 14.

General references



See also

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