Diomede Island Research Articles

Gateway to the arctic: Defining the eastern channel of the Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is the sole gateway and an oceanographic bottleneck for the seasonally warm and comparatively fresh and nutrient-rich Pacific waters to flow into the Arctic, melting ice, lowering salinity, and feeding bird, mammal, and fish populations. The Diomede Islands split this small strait into two main channels, both with northward flow (in the annual mean). The eastern channel, in U.S. waters, also seasonally carries the warmer, fresher Alaskan Coastal Current. Year-round in situ mooring observations (in place since 1990 with annual servicing) show a significant flow increase in the (northward) throughflow, along with seasonal and annual fluctuations. To help with measuring and modelling water flow estimates, we created the first detailed shore-to-shore bathymetric surface of the Bering Strait’s eastern channel, located its narrowest cross-section (1.8 km2) as occurring 5–10 km south of the moorings, and quantified the cross-section across the moorings (2.0 km2), both slightly larger than previously estimated (1.6 km2). Overlaps between older (∼1950) and newer (∼2010) bathymetry data sets identified clear areas of erosion and deposition, with much of the eastern channel having eroded by > 1 m. Since the depth is uniformly ∼ 50 m across much of the eastern channel, the 1 m of erosion that we quantified would only slightly (2 %) increase the sizes of the cross-sections. Much of the seafloor is hard substrate and probably composed of cobbles, but we hypothesize that friction from strong (∼1 + knot) seafloor currents is the most likely explanation for the erosion that we observed. In softer and siltier areas, the bathymetry showed additional evidence of potential current impacts in the form of small seafloor waves (∼0.5 to ∼ 1.0 m tall) and a shore-parallel bar offshore of Cape Prince of Wales Spit. There are large (∼2 m tall) seafloor waves seaward of Cape Prince of Wales Shoal. A previously undescribed (∼1 to 2 km wide, ∼4 m deep) seafloor channel of unknown origin occurred along a linear north/south axis for the full 75 km extent of the bathymetric surface. The southern end of this seafloor channel was near the end of three larger seafloor channels extending westerly out of nearby Norton Sound, suggesting a common origin. These Norton Sound channels may be paleodrainages, as their eastern ends point toward Seward Peninsula inlets with large drainages where paleoglaciers were reported to have existed, but the morphology of these channels is also consistent with tidal channels.

Shipping governance in the Bering Strait Region: Protecting the Diomede Islands and adjacent waters

Increasing shipping in the Bering Strait Region (BSR) has prompted the two coastal states, the United States and Russia, to implement measures aimed at reducing the risks to the region’s sensitive marine environment and local population dependent on subsistence economies. A significant step forward was made in 2018 when the two countries established joint ships’ routeing measures in the area through the International Maritime Organization (IMO). However, additional measures will be needed to create a comprehensive traffic management scheme in the BSR. This article focuses on analyzing potential courses of action that Russia and the United States could pursue, jointly or separately, to protect the BSR from the adverse effects of growing shipping. In particular, it studies and compares specific tools that could be applied to the Diomede Islands and adjacent marine areas, such as designation of Areas To Be Avoided (ATBAs) and Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs), speed restrictions, and implementation of a ship reporting system. In addition, considering the growing tensions between the United States and Russia, this article explores several potential scenarios in which the two countries implement different instruments independently of each other.

First Report of Biofluorescence in Arctic Snailfishes and Rare Occurrence of Multiple Fluorescent Colors in a Single Species

Biofluorescence has recently been reported to be phylogenetically widespread and phenotypically variable across bony fishes, and is most common in tropical coral reef lineages. Here we provide the first documentation of prominent biofluorescence in Arctic fishes including two juvenile specimens of Liparis gibbus (variegated snailfish) collected from the coastal waters of Eastern Greenland, as well as an adult L. tunicatus (kelp snailfish) collected in the Bering Strait off of Little Diomede Island, AK. Observations of L. gibbus were made during nighttime dives within kelp forests in iceberg habitats in Southeastern Greenland in August 2019. The juvenile L. gibbus specimens exhibit both green (523–530 nm) and red (674–678 nm) biofluorescence on discrete anatomical areas, which provides a rare example of multiple fluorescent colors emitted from a single individual. Notably, the adult L. tunicatus emitted only red fluorescence in a bilaterally symmetrical pattern of discrete red dots and blotches. Potential weak green biofluorescence was also noted in a flatfish (Hippoglossoides platessoides) collected in Greenland, but in no other Arctic species. As the distribution and function of biofluorescence in marine fishes is further examined, this report adds context to its widespread geographical and environmental distributions, and shows that, although rare, biofluorescence does occur in Arctic fish lineages.

Geographic and seasonal patterns of seabird subsistence harvest in Alaska

Assessing seabird harvest sustainability is difficult because of limited information on harvest and on harvest impacts on seabird populations. This study quantified seasonal harvest of seabirds and their eggs in all Alaska regions, addressed management and conservation questions, and identified topics where collaboration among stakeholders can support sustainable harvest opportunities and promote seabird conservation. In 2002–2015, the estimated subsistence harvest of seabirds was 24,315 birds/year. Murres (33%), auklets (28%), gulls (16%), and cormorants (14%) represented most of the harvest. Alaska-wide harvest patterns largely reflected harvest at the St. Lawrence–Diomede Islands, which represented 78% of the total seabird harvest. The Alaska-wide seasonal distribution of harvest was 56% in spring, 20% summer, and 24% fall-winter. The estimated egg harvest was 150,781 eggs/year and was largely composed of murres (51%) and gulls (45%) eggs. Harvest of most species, including species of conservation concern, was low relative to population sizes. However, harvest of eggs of terns may be significant compared to coastal egg productivity. A better understanding of threats to populations of terns is needed to clarify conservation priorities and to engage subsistence users in conservation efforts. Despite indications of reduced subsistence uses, harvesting of seabirds and their eggs remains culturally important and is a food security component in remote communities in Alaska.

Правовой режим Берингова пролива и безопасность мореплавания

Objective: to establish the legal regime and security of navigation in the Bering Strait. Methods: formal logical method, systemic method, comparative legal method, statistical method. Results: in the recent years, specialized publications contain numerous publications on the problems of development of Arctic shipping and the future intensification of the use of the Northern Sea Route. Whatever Arctic routes may be chosen by the skippers, the vessels will have to overcome the narrowness of the Bering Strait. If the existing estimates are reasonable, and the navigation of the North-West Sea Passage will increase, it is appropriate to ask whether the legal regime and security means are adapted to the possible increase of commercial shipping and military navigation. In this respect, the author formulates the legal measures aimed at ensuring security in the Bering Strait area with the account of growing cargo traffic. Scientific novelty: for the first time the article proves the necessity to include into the Bering Strait area the territories, bounded from the north by the east and west passages formed by the Diomede Islands and continental coasts of the Russian Federation and the United States and from the south – by the passages between the Cape of Chukotka and Cape Sevuokuk of St. Lawrence Island, Cape Sivuka and the mainland of Alaska, in order to protect the sea natural landscape and to ensure the maritime safety. The opinion is substantiated about the necessity to equip the marine passages, forming the waters of the Bering Strait, with a security system. The proposed legal regime of ensuring the safety of navigation in the Bering Strait, which includes the common navigation rules, establishing the areas of the vessel traffic separation, designation of areas of marine reserves and organizational-legal means for damping the dangerous situations. Practical significance: the findings and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific, educational and law enforcement practice in the consideration of the issue of the legal regime of the Bering Strait and the safety of navigation.

Optimization of the High-Frequency Radar Sites in the Bering Strait Region

AbstractMonitoring surface currents by coastal high-frequency radars (HFRs) is a cost-effective observational technique with good prospects for further development. An important issue in improving the efficiency of HFR systems is the optimization of radar positions on the coastline. Besides being constrained by environmental and logistic factors, such optimization has to account for prior knowledge of local circulation and the target quantities (such as transports through certain key sections) with respect to which the radar positions are to be optimized.In the proposed methodology, prior information of the regional circulation is specified by the solution of the 4D variational assimilation problem, where the available climatological data in the Bering Strait (BS) region are synthesized with dynamical constraints of a numerical model. The optimal HFR placement problem is solved by maximizing the reduction of a posteriori error in the mass, heat, and salt (MHS) transports through the target sections in the region. It is shown that the MHS transports into the Arctic and their redistribution within the Chukchi Sea are best monitored by placing HFRs at Cape Prince of Wales and on Little Diomede Island. Another equally efficient configuration involves placement of the second radar at Sinuk (western Alaska) in place of Diomede. Computations show that 1) optimization of the HFR deployment yields a significant (1.3–3 times) reduction of the transport errors compared to nonoptimal positioning of the radars and 2) error reduction provided by two HFRs is an order of magnitude better than the one obtained from three moorings permanently maintained in the region for the last 5 yr. This result shows a significant advantage of BS monitoring by HFRs compared to the more traditional technique of in situ moored observations. The obtained results are validated by an extensive set of observing system simulation experiments.

The development of ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait: Lessons learned from the North Atlantic right whale to protect local whale populations

As a precautionary measure to protect the culturally-significant bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) from vessel strike, this paper explores the potential for having the International Maritime Organization endorse ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait region. The confined nature of the Bering Strait forces both vessel traffic and the migrating Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort stock of bowhead whales to occupy the same narrow space, thus putting individual animals at risk of vessel strike. The potential for vessel strike may become exacerbated as the reduction of Arctic sea ice makes the Arctic increasingly accessible, allowing vessels to transit through the Strait in greater densities. In drawing from lessons learned in the successful reduction of vessel strike to the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), the author provides broad recommendations for implementing ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait region based on findings by Citta et al. (2012). It is recommended that both the western side of Big Diomede Island and the western side of St. Lawrence Island be designated as seasonal Areas To Be Avoided (ATBA) during fall months when bowheads are known to inhabit the area. Alternatively, it is proposed that Traffic Separation Schemes (TSSs) be implemented so that vessels must keep to the eastern side of both Big Diomede Island and St. Lawrence Island during this time. Both measures would reduce the amount of overlap between migrating bowhead whales and transiting vessel traffic, effectively reducing the potential for vessel strike.

Winter Movements of Bowhead Whales (<i>Balaena mysticetus</i>) in the Bering Sea

Working with subsistence whale hunters, we tagged bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) with satellite-linked transmitters and documented their movements in the Bering Sea during two winters. We followed 11 whales through the winter of 2008 – 09 and 10 whales in 2009 – 10. The average date that bowhead whales entered the Bering Sea was 14 December in 2008 and 26 November in 2009. All but one tagged whale entered the Bering Sea west of Big Diomede Island. In the winter of 2008 – 09, whales were distributed in a line extending from the Bering Strait to Cape Navarin, whereas in 2009 – 10, the distribution shifted south of St. Lawrence Island, extending from Cape Navarin to St. Matthew Island. Bowhead whales were most likely to be found in areas with 90% – 100% sea-ice concentration and were generally located far from the ice edge and polynyas. The average date whales left the Bering Sea was 12 April in 2009 and 22 April in 2010. During the spring migration, all whales but one traveled north along the Alaska coast to summering grounds in the Canadian Beaufort. The remaining whale migrated a month later and traveled up the northern coast of Chukotka, where it was located when the tag stopped transmitting in August. It is unlikely that this whale migrated to the Beaufort Sea before returning south to winter within the Bering Sea, indicating the movements of bowhead whales are more complex than generally believed. Declining sea ice in the Bering Sea may result in the expansion of commercial fisheries and shipping; areas where such activities may overlap the winter range of bowhead whales include the Bering and Anadyr straits, the eastern edge of Anadyr Bay, and St. Matthew Island.

Morphometrics, Fecundity, and Hatch Timing of Blue King Crabs (Paralithodes platypus) from the Bering Strait, Alaska, USA

Abstract The Bering Strait marks the northern species boundary for blue king crabs (Paralithodes platypus), but the life history of the population at this latitude has never been described in scientific literature. Blue king crabs were collected in shallow (10-23 m) waters near King Island (n: males = 199; females = 260) in July of 2005 and from near Little Diomede Island (n: males = 40; females = 19) in April of 2007 for morphometric, fecundity and hatch timing information. Crabs from Little Diomede and King Islands showed no significant difference in male carapace length (CL) by location and were smaller than blue king crabs from more southern parts of the state (mean CL ± SE: 108.45 ± 0.70 mm). Females from King Island (mean CL ± SE: 99.47 ± 0.52 mm) were significantly larger than female crabs collected from Little Diomede Island (mean CL ± SE: 93.11 ± 2.96 mm) and male crabs (mean CL ± SE: King = 107.98 ± 0.73; Diomede = 110.13 ± 2.24) were significantly larger than female crabs at both lo...

The Potential for Using Little Diomede Island as a Platform for Observing Environmental Conditions in Bering Strait

The Pacific waters that enter the Arctic via the Bering Strait exert a major influence on the Arctic Ocean’s stratification, ice cover, and ecosystem. We demonstrate the potential of a shore-based laboratory to monitor the water masses that flow predominantly northward past Little Diomede Island in the center of the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. We determined near-surface water column salinity, inorganic nutrient concentrations, natural fluorescence associated with chlorophyll, and the oxygen isotope composition of seawater, both in summer during the open-water period and in late winter under ice-covered conditions, by pumping ashore water from shallow depths near the island. Additional surveys were undertaken within 5 km of the island to assess the influence of local sources of nutrients. Water mass variability was much greater during the open-water period than under ice-covered conditions, presumably because the relatively immobile ice cover attenuates wind forcing and the decrease in run-off reduces cross-shelf gradients. The mean oxygen isotope composition of the summer (?18O = -1.11‰) and late winter (?18O = -0.98) collections, however, was close to that which has been established for Bering Sea waters in the Pacific-dominated upper halocline of the Arctic Ocean (-1.1‰) particularly considering the higher seasonal flow of runoff in the summer. A comparison with data from shipboard sampling at various locations across the Bering Strait indicates that the oxygen isotope composition of near-surface water sampled at Diomede varies in response to wind-forcing. If the least saline (< 30.5) water near the Alaska coast is excluded, the ?18O values of Diomede and shipboard samples cannot be distinguished statistically. This similarity suggests that the water sampled from the island also reasonably represents the ?18O value of Bering Sea waters that contribute to the upper halocline of the Arctic Ocean. Effects of benthic recycling, human activity, and seabird nesting on nutrient concentrations appeared to be concentrated within ~200 m of the island. Our results are discussed in the practical context of availability of electricity, interested local residents, and a geotechnical study indicating that it is feasible to construct and operate a more permanent undersea water intake system to improve environmental observation capabilities in the Bering Strait region.

Resource partitioning by sympatric pagophilic seals in Alaska: monitoring effects of climate variation with fatty acids

Four species of pagophilic phocid seals in the Western Arctic—bearded (Erignathus barbatus), ringed (Phoca hispida), ribbon (Phoca fasciata), and spotted (Phoca largha)—are particularly vulnerable to arctic warming trends. Documenting diet composition over time is one way in which the flexibility of a species, in the face of broad ecosystem changes, can be measured. Because the fatty acid (FA) composition of depot lipids has long been known to reflect diet, we analysed the FA composition of blubber samples collected from bearded (n = 30), ringed (n = 15), ribbon (n = 32) and spotted seals (n = 24). All animals were taken near Little Diomede Island in May and June 2003, providing a unique opportunity to study interspecies differences with minimal effects of spatial and temporal variation. Bearded seal FA composition was significantly different from all other seals (P < 0.001 in all cases), ringed seal FA composition was significantly different from that of both ribbon and spotted seals (P < 0.001), but ribbon and spotted seal FA compositions could not be distinguished from each other. Overall, the blubber FA compositions of ribbon, ringed and spotted seals implied diets dominated by pelagic prey. Inferences we made about current diets of bearded and ringed seals suggest that certain prey important to them in this area in the 1970s remain important today, despite notable changes in the ecosystem. We believe that blubber FA analysis will be a useful tool in assessing the response of ice-associated pinnipeds and their ecosystem to changes associated with arctic warming.

Recent carbon and nitrogen uptake rates of phytoplankton in Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea

Cruises to Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea in US waters from late June in 2002 to early September in 2004 and the Russian–American Long-term Census of the Arctic (RUSALCA) research cruise in 2004 covered all major water masses and contributed to a better understanding of the regional physics, nutrient dynamics, and biological systems. The integrated concentration of the high nitrate pool in the central Chukchi Sea was greater in this study than in previous studies, although the highest nitrate concentration (∼22 μM) in the Anadyr Water mass passing through the western side of Bering Strait was consistent with prior observations. The chlorophyll- a concentrations near the western side of the Diomede Islands ranged from 200 to 400 mg chl- a m −2 and the range in the central Chukchi Sea was 200–500 mg chl- a m −2 for the 2002–2004 Alpha Helix (HX) cruises. Chlorophyll- a concentrations for the 2004 RUSALCA cruise were lower than those from previous studies. The mean annual primary production of phytoplankton from this study, using a 13C– 15N dual-isotope technique, was 55 g C m −2 for the whole Chukchi Sea and 145 g C m −2 for the plume of Anadyr–Bering Shelf Water in the central Chukchi Sea. In contrast, the averages of annual total nitrogen production were 13.9 g N m −2 (S.D.=±16.2 g N m −2) and 33.8 g N m −2 (S.D.=±14.1 g N m −2) for the Chukchi Sea and the plume, respectively. These carbon and nitrogen production rates of phytoplankton were consistently two-or three-fold lower than those from previous studies. We suggest that the lower rates in this study, and consequently more unused nitrate in the water column, were caused by lower phytoplankton biomass in the Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea. However, we do not know if the lower rate of production from this study is a general decreasing trend or simply temporal variations in the Chukchi Sea, since temporal and geographical variations are substantially large and presently unpredictable.

Murre Eggs (Uria aalge and Uria lomvia) as Indicators of Mercury Contamination in the Alaskan Marine Environment

Sixty common murre (Uria aalge) and 27 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) eggs collected by the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) in 1999-2001 from two Gulf of Alaska and three Bering Sea nesting colonies were analyzed for total mercury (Hg) using isotope dilution cold vapor inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Hg concentrations (wet mass) ranged from 0.011 microg/g to 0.357 microg/g (relative standard deviation = 76%), while conspecifics from the same colonies and years had an average relative standard deviation of 33%. Hg levels in eggs from the Gulf of Alaska (0.166 microg/g +/- 0.011 microg/g) were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than in the Bering Sea (0.047 microg/g +/- 0.004 microg/g). Within the Bering Sea, Hg was significantly higher (p = 0.0007) in eggs from Little Diomede Island near the arctic than at the two more southern colonies. Although thick-billed and common murres are ecologicallysimilar,there were significant species differences in egg Hg concentrations within each region (p < 0.0001). In the Bering Sea, eggs from thick-billed murres had higher Hg concentrations than eggs from common murres, while in the Gulf of Alaska, common murre eggs had higher concentrations than those of thick-billed murres. A separate one-way analysis of variance on the only time-trend data currently available for a colony (St. Lazaria Island in the Gulf of Alaska) found significantly lower Hg concentrations in common murre eggs collected in 2001 compared to 1999 (p = 0.017). Results from this study indicate that murre eggs may be effective monitoring units for detecting geographic, species, and temporal patterns of Hg contamination in marine food webs. The relatively small intracolony variation in egg Hg levels and the ability to consistently obtain adequate sample sizes both within and among colonies over a large geographic range means that monitoring efforts using murre eggs will have suitable statistical power for detecting environmental patterns of Hg contamination. The potential influences of trophic effects, physical transport patterns, and biogeochemical processes on these monitoring efforts are discussed, and future plans to investigate the sources of the observed variability are presented.

The Age and Origin of the Little Diomede Island Upland Surface

Geomorphology and projected uplift rates indicate that the upland surface of Little Diomede Island may represent a high sea level stand that occurred 2.6 million years ago in the Bering Strait. The 350-363 m upland surface of the island could be correlative with the York terrace, an uplifted marine terrace previously recognized on the southern flanks of the York Mountains, Seward Peninsula. The modern surface of Little Diomede Island is composed of a cryoplanation terrace enclosing a central blockfield and rimmed with tors. Beryllium-l0 cosmogenic isotope analysis of two tors and three outcrops from the upper surface indicate the island has been under the influence of a subaerial periglacial environment at least for the last 36 000 years (MIS 3) and probably for 254 000 (MIS 7/8). Unequivocal evidence does not exist to support glaciation of Little Diomede Island.

The Story of the King Island Wolf Dance, Then and Now

In 1982 and again in 1991, the King Island Inupiaq Eskimo community revived the Wolf Dance, which had not been performed in its entirety since 1930. Other Inupiaq communities on the Seward Peninsula and in Northwest Alaska also performed the Wolf Dance (variously referred to as the Eagle-Wolf Dance or the Box Drum Dance), which was inserted into what was called the (Kingston 1999:70-72). The Messenger Feast was celebrated throughout Central Yup'ik and Inupiaq areas of Alaska, with the exceptions of St. Lawrence Island and the Diomede Islands. The general purpose of the Messenger Feast was for headmen or umialit (plural of umialik or boat captain, sometimes referred to as a rich man) from neighboring villages to trade goods with each other. Since relations between villages were generally hostile, the initiation and scheduling of such a feast occurred through messengers. On King Island, the messenger was sometimes a partner to the umialik, who helped the umialik prepare for the feast. After a Messenger Feast was scheduled, it often took more than a year for preparations, since the host village needed to be able to feed its guests for several days. Although the Messenger Feast was found throughout Western Alaska, the Wolf Dance was only found in Inupiaq villages, although there are indications that it was starting to spread into Yup'ik-speaking areas before the turn of the twentieth century (Kingston 1999:73). Although trade was the focus of the Messenger Feasts, there were religious elements in the Wolf Dance itself. In Yup'ik and Inupiaq cosmology, humans and animals existed in equal and reciprocal relationships with each other. Animals allowed themselves to be killed by hunters and their wives who had acted morally (Fienup-Riordan 1994). In return, hunters had to abide by certain rules and rituals in order for the spirits of killed animals to return to their world where they could be reborn. In fact, major Yup'ik and Inupiaq festivals, such as the Yup'ik Bladder Festival, the Inupiaq Whaling Festival, or the King Island Polar Bear Dances, were performed for this very purpose. This is the same with the Wolf Dance: it was performed in order to return the spirits of eagles (and later, other animals) killed by hunters to the spiritual world so they could be reborn. Often, scholars discover that particular dances and rituals are linked to particular myths and legends. This is true for the Wolf Dance, in that communities who performed Wolf Dances also told the Wolf Dance story associated with it. In my research, I found over ten different versions of the Wolf Dance story from King Island and other communities, as well as over ten different accounts of Wolf Dance performances. It is my intention here to concentrate on stories of the Wolf Dance told by King Island community members during the course of my dissertation research.2 I became interested in the Wolf Dance primarily because I wanted to learn and understand King Island Inupiaq singing and dancing traditions. I am half-King Island Inupiaq and grew up in Oregon; learning to sing and dance was a way for me to learn about King Island culture and a way to express King Island identity. I was somewhat intrigued when a couple of community members, including Marie Aakauraq Saclamana and my aunt Margaret Iingaq Penatac, mentioned that the Wolf Dance was dangerous because one of the Wolf Dancers usually died. However, I did not decide to study the Wolf Dance until I discovered that my greatgrandfather, Agnazungaaq (my mother's mother's father, cf. kin chart), told the story to Knud Rasmussen in 1924, during the Fifth Thule Expedition (Rasmussen 1932:17-33; 1952:255-260). I reasoned then that members of my own family would know about the Wolf Dance and could tell me the story. My assumption was borne out when several of my aunts and uncles remembered particular details of the story and the dance as I did the research for my dissertation. In addition, my mother's parallel cousin (my mother's mother's sister's daughter), Lucy Tanaqiq Koyuk, told me a version of the story which I include here. …

Distribution and Subspecies of the Dovekie in Alaska

The Dovekie (Alle alle) is a primarily North Atlantic alcid that also breeds in the Arctic Basin of the northeastern U.S.S.R. and probably eastward to the Bering Strait and the northern Bering Sea (Vaurie 1965, Kessel and Gibson 1978, AOU 1983). In the latter areas, the Dovekie occurs annually and almost certainly breeds at Little Diomede Island, King Island, and western St. Lawrence Island (Kessel and Gibson 1978), where it is seen on talus slopes containing colonies of auklets (Parakeet Auklet, Cyclorrhynchus psittacula, Least Auklet, Aethia pusilla, and Crested Auklet, A. cristatella). Surprisingly, there is no record of the Dovekie from the auklet colonies at Big Diomede Island (Portenko 1973). The only published Alaska records of Dovekies away from these islands are single records from Point Barrow (Bailey 1948), Wainwright (Hersey 1916), and St. George Island (Holmes 1968; also see Fig. 1). In this paper, we report additional records that further outline the range, and we discuss the subspecific status, of the Dovekie in Alaska. The only records of Dovekies from the Alaska sector of the Beaufort Sea are from Cooper Island, approximately 20 nm east of Point Barrow. Divoky has seen Dovekies there in three of the past 12 years (1976 to 1987): lone birds on 23 July 1980, 23 June 1983, and 16 June 1986. These birds landed in a Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) colony at times of the day when the guillemots' attendance was at its maximum (500 to 700 birds), suggesting that the Dovekies were attracted by the large number of guillemots. There also is a record of a Dovekie from the Alaska sector of the Arctic Basin, an adult female collected 20 July 1968 in heavy pack ice at 84030'N, 144000'W, approximately 850 nm north of Barter Island (UAM 1000). Dovekies may be more numerous in the Canadian Beaufort, for Smith (1973) found them to be regular along western Victoria Island and sporadic along western Banks Island, whereas Divoky (1984) saw none during approximately 300 hr of pelagic seabird transect research in the Alaska Beaufort. There are five Dovekie records from the Alaska sector of the Chukchi Sea. An immature was collected near Point Barrow on 13 July 1935 (CAS 7864; Bailey 1948), and two birds were seen near Wainwright on 10 August 1914 (Hersey 1916). On 15 September 1981, J. Nelson (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska; pers. comm.) saw three Dovekies at 71004'N, 161058'W, approximately 110 nm west of Barrow; on the following day, he saw four more at 70031'N, 161054'W, approximately 40 nm west of Wainwright. On 30 August 1987, A. E. Stone (University of Alaska, Fairbanks; pers. comm.) saw a breeding-plumaged bird at 67038'N, 167035'W, approximately 130 nm northeast of Little Diomede Island. Dovekies have been recorded recently at St. Matthew Island, central Bering Sea, in three different years. At least nine were seen offshore from Big Lake on 28 May 1982 (A. L. Sowls, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Homer, Alaska; pers. comm.), and one or two were seen in auklet colonies near Glory of Russia Cape on 12 to 24 June 1983 (B. A. Cooper, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; pers. comm.) and 10 July 1985 (Sowls, pers. comm.). There are no specimens from St. Matthew Island. There are four Dovekie records from the Pribilof Islands, two from St. Paul, one from St. George, and one at sea near the Pribilofs. At St. Paul, lone birds were seen with flocks of auklets off Reef Point on 13 June 1981 and 19 June 1984 (Kessel and Gibson, UAM; unpubl. records). The St. George record is of a single bird in a mixed flock ofauklets east of St. George village on 8 July 1958 (Holmes 1968). The at-sea record is of one bird seen at 58009'N, 171035'W (approximately 70 nm northwest of St. Paul Island) on 26 May 1978 by K. L. Wilson and A. E. Good. There are no specimens from the Pribilof Islands. There are three pelagic records of Dovekies from the North Pacific near the Aleutian Islands, two from the eastern Aleutians and one from the vicinity of the west'Received 5 October 1987. Final acceptance 22 February 1988.

“Geodesist gvozdev was here in 1732” (eighteenth century cartographic traditions in the representation of the discoveries in Bering Strait)

Abstract In 1732 a Russian naval expedition aboard the ship Sv. Gavriil led by geodesist M. S. Gvozdev reached Bering Strait and sighted and mapped the Diomede Islands and a section of the Alaskan coast in the area of Cape Prince of Wales. Gvozdev thus became not only the first person to determine incontestably that America was not joined to Asia, but also the first European to see any part of Alaska. Maps produced in 1743, incorporating Gvozdev's discoveries, had a major impact on the cartographic representations of this area thereafter, although since these manuscript maps remained classified by the Navy Department some imaginative (and erroneous) anomalies also continued to appear, even in Russian maps, for a number of decades. The author proposes that the Diomede Islands and Cape Prince of Wales by officially renamed the Gvozdev Islands and Cape Gvozdev respectively. (The translation is by William Barr, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.)

Cartographic and hydrographic interpretation of the disappearance of Semenovskiy and Vasil'yevskiy Islands in the Laptev sea

Abstract Rapid coastal erosion may be observed in many places in the Arctic as a result of thermal abrasion in ice‐rich unconsolidated sediments and especially in massive ground ice. In two instances, those of Semenovskiy and Vasil'yevskiy islands in the Laptev Sea, the result, documented in the literature, has been the disappearance of the islands. The authors analyze the results of various surveys and present their findings as to the pattern and rates of coastal erosion and lowering of the seabed (also due to thermal abrasion) on the sites of the former islands since their disappearance. (For comparison with the situation in the Beaufort Sea, discussion of the similar disappearance of St. Diomede Island in Laptev Strait and some ideas as to how this phenomenon relates to such “disappearing islands”; as “Sannikov Land”; see: William Barr, “Retreating coasts and disappearing islands in the Arctic,”; The Musk‐Ox No. 18, 1976, pp. 103–111.) (The translation is by William Barr of the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.)

The New Approach to Development of Alaska's Natural Resources

Alaska's history is one of exploitation of its resources by nonresident interests. The attitude was "get and get out". This pattern has changed, and today Alaska demands that its resources be used for the maximum benefit of its citizens. Introduction Alaska, meaning "The Great Land", is often labeled a slumbering giant, an icebox or frozen wasteland, or the last frontier. She has a history as romantic and colorful as any land over which the Stars and Stripes has ever flown; yet the approach to exploration and development - key words in economic progress - has not varied in large measure for most of the two and one-half centuries that the white man has been aware of the vast north country. In describing the pristine environment, romance writers find pristine environment, romance writers find immutability a factor of charm. But the charm vanishes when immutability is synonymous with the unchangeable pattern of exploration and development implied by pattern of exploration and development implied by the word exploitation. Though Alaskans exude great pride in the saga of the gold rush era and hasten to pride in the saga of the gold rush era and hasten to quote from the stories of Jack London and the ballads of Robert Service about the breathtaking adventures of the hardy prospectors, the aftermath of exploitation is unquestionably the greatest anathema to them. Exploitation in the development of Alaska's natural resources, with which she is so bountifully endowed, began with the early Russian fur traders and continued in the mining and fishing industries for most of her history as a territory. All followed a similar modus operandi - get and get out. The spectra of impermanence and insecurity lingered long over Alaska until a gradual change began little more than three decades ago. Accelerating with the advent of statehood in 1958, the new approach is evident everywhere today. "Hire Alaskan", "Build Alaskan", "Grow with Alaska" - all these slogans express a new philosophy that may be unrealistic if carried to extremes; but they portray a concept vital for Alaska. That concept is to portray a concept vital for Alaska. That concept is to "telescope time" and catch up with her sister sovereign states in prosperity and economic development. History of Exploitation - Before 1930 Exploration of the northwestern comer of America came from three directions. The Russians came from the west across Siberia and the Bering Sea; the British came from the east through the Mackenzie Valley; and the Spaniards and Italians came from the south. All were exploring the rugged western coast of North America. Although the credit for discovery of Alaska has been given to Vitus Bering, a Dane serving as fleet captain in the Russian navy, the early Cossack adventurers who transgressed Arctic Siberia and landed at the Sea of Okhotsk made the first voyages across the frozen, ice-packed area between Asia and North America 40 years before Bering landed on St. Lawrence Island. A Cossack named Popof brought back to St. Petersburg in 1711 stories of the Diomede Islands that stimulated Russian explorers for the next half-century. Geographical names in Alaska reflect early exploration, very little of which led to colonization. Many geographical names reflect the different national origins of the explorers. JPT P. 932

Distribution and movements of white foxes in northern and western Alaska

White foxes occur on the tundra of northern and western Alaska and predominate on St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Hall, and Diomede Islands in the Bering Sea. Few white foxes are found on the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands where blue foxes dominate the local fox population. On the Alaskan Arctic Slope, two seasonal movements, the first in the fall when foxes move seaward towards the coast and sea ice, and the second in late winter and early spring when they return inland to occupy summer den sites, occur. Although reported in other arctic areas, no definite records of fox migrations in northern Alaska exist. Distribution records for white foxes in Alaska are summarized.