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The Pribilof Canyon is a long submarine canyon rising from the Bering Abyssal Plain on the floor of the Bering Sea to the southeast of the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. It connects to the Bering Canyon at its west end.
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The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about 200 miles (320 km) north of Unalaska and 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberian coast is roughly 500 miles (800 km) northwest. About 77 square miles (200 km2) in total area, they are mostly rocky and are covered with tundra, with a population of 572 as of the 2010 census.
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and the Americas. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves. The Bering Sea is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, who, in 1728, was the first European to systematically explore it, sailing from the Pacific Ocean northward to the Arctic Ocean.
Aleutians West Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,232, down from 5,561 in 2010.
St. Paul is a city in the 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 479 at the 2010 census, down from 532 in 2000.
Gavriil Loginovich Pribylov was a Russian navigator who discovered the Bering Sea islands of St. George Island and St. Paul Island in 1786 and 1787. The islands, and surrounding small islets, now bear his name, being known as the Pribilof Islands.
A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope, sometimes extending well onto the continental shelf, having nearly vertical walls, and occasionally having canyon wall heights of up to 5 km (3 mi), from canyon floor to canyon rim, as with the Great Bahama Canyon. Just as above-sea-level canyons serve as channels for the flow of water across land, submarine canyons serve as channels for the flow of turbidity currents across the seafloor. Turbidity currents are flows of dense, sediment laden waters that are supplied by rivers, or generated on the seabed by storms, submarine landslides, earthquakes, and other soil disturbances. Turbidity currents travel down slope at great speed, eroding the continental slope and finally depositing sediment onto the abyssal plain, where the particles settle out.
Saint Paul Island is the largest of the Pribilof Islands, a group of four Alaskan 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 three nearest islands to Saint Paul Island are Otter Island to the southwest, Saint George slightly to the south, and Walrus Island to the east.
The Bering Sea Arbitration of 1893 arose out of a fishery dispute between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States in the 1880s. The United States Revenue Cutter Service, today known as the United States Coast Guard, captured several Canadian sealer vessels throughout the conflict. Diplomatic representations followed the capture of the first three ships and an order for release was issued by the British imperial government, but it did nothing to stop the seizures and none were released. This led to the U.S. claiming exclusive jurisdiction over the sealing industry in the Bering Sea, and that led to negotiations outside of the courts. The award was given in favor of the British, however, and the Americans were denied exclusive jurisdiction. The British were awarded compensation for the damage that had been inflicted on their vessels, and the American sealing zone remained as it was prior to the conflict.
The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1903, it was reorganized as the United States Bureau of Fisheries, sometimes referred to as the United States Fisheries Service, which operated until 1940. In 1940, the Bureau of Fisheries was abolished when its personnel and facilities became part of the newly created Fish and Wildlife Service, under the United States Department of the Interior.
Otter Island is a small island located 6 miles (9.7 km) 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 (0.6686 km2) and there is no resident population. The highest point on the island is 935 feet (285 m) above sea level. The island is closed to hunting.
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 2,130 feet (650 m) and its area is 50.3 acres (0.2036 km2). There is no resident population.
St. George Island is one of the Pribilof Islands off the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska in the Bering Sea. The island has a land area of 90 km2 and a population of about 100 people, all living in its only community, the city of St. George, which encompasses the entire island. The ZIP Code for Saint George Island is 99591.
The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, formally known as the Convention between the United States and Other Powers Providing for the Preservation and Protection of Fur Seals, was a treaty signed on July 7, 1911, designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur-bearing mammals in the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea. The treaty, signed by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia, outlawed open-water seal hunting and acknowledged the United States' jurisdiction in managing the on-shore hunting of seals for commercial purposes. It was the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
Paralithodes platypus, the blue king crab, is a species of king crab from cold waters in the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. Although blue king crabs are among the largest crabs in the world and reputedly may exceed 18 pounds (8.2 kg) in weight, they are generally smaller than red king crabs.
The Pribilof Fur Seal Monument is a tribute to the Aleut sealers of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea of Alaska. The monument was unveiled on St. Paul Island on the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911.
US FWS Pribilof was an American refrigerated cargo ship in commission in the fleet of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) from 1964 to 1970 and, as NOAAS Pribilof, in the fleet of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration′s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from 1970 to 1975. She ran a cargo service between Seattle, Washington, and the Pribilof Islands – the last of the United States Government "Pribilof tenders" to carry out this function – and also made USFWS and NMFS research cruises in the Pribilofs.
US FWS Penguin II was an American refrigerated cargo ship in commission in the fleet of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from 1950 to 1963. She ran a cargo service between Seattle, Washington, and the Pribilof Islands, and also delivered provisions to Aleut communities on the Alaska Peninsula and in the Aleutian Islands. Prior to her fisheries service, she was the United States Army cargo ship U.S. Army Lt. Raymond Zussman (FS-246).
USFS Eider was an American motor schooner in commission in the fleet of the United States Bureau of Fisheries from 1919 to 1940 and, as US FWS Eider, in the fleet of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1940 to 1942 and again in the late 1940s. She ran a passenger-cargo service between Unalaska and the Pribilof Islands, and also carried passengers, supplies, and provisions to destinations on the mainland of the Territory of Alaska and in the Aleutian Islands. She occasionally supported research activities in Alaskan waters and the North Pacific Ocean, and she conducted patrols to protect Alaskan fisheries and marine mammals. In 1924, she provided logistical support to the first aerial circumnavigation of the world.
US FWS Dennis Winn was an American cargo liner in commission in the fleet of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from 1948 to 1960. She frequently provided a passenger and cargo service to and from the Pribilof Islands, and also carried passengers and cargo to and between other communities and FWS stations in the Territory of Alaska. Prior to her fisheries service, she was the United States Army cargo ship U.S. Army Lt. Walter J. Will (FS-244).