Uliaga Island

Location map
Alaska
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lat=53.1314
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caption=Location in Alaska

Uliaga Island (also spelled "Uliagan", "Ouliaga", and "Ouilliaghui" [cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dUQMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA650&dq=Uliaga+island| title=Bulletin - United States Geological Survey| date=1906| publisher=United States Geological Survey| accessdate=2008-09-23] ) is the northernmost member of the Islands of the Four Mountains group in the Aleutian Islands of southwestern Alaska. The island's name is probably derived from the Aleut place name "ulaĝa", which is itself derived from "ulaẍ" - "bearberry." [cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA529&dq=Uliaga+island&lr=&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0cBEMDcvLbJjfaHvWqlYRNljHIQg| title=Native American Placenames of the United States| first=William| last=Bright| date=2004| accessdate=2008-09-23| isbn=0806135980, 9780806135984| publisher=University of Oklahoma Press] The triangular shaped island measures about convert|3.8|km|mi across and consists of a single stratovolcano cone that reaches a height of convert|888|m|ft.cite web|url=http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1101-25-| title=Uliaga - summary| publisher=Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program| accessdate=2008-09-23] No eruptions have been recorded in historical times, though it is thought to have been active at some time during the Holocene Epoch.

History

According to writings by Ivan Popov in the 19th century, the southeastern part of Uliaga was home to a small settlement of "thieving, quarrelsome people" in 1764. [cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=J4q4hvs62XgC&pg=PA342&dq=Uliaga+island&lr=&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U0NVc4a12lASfoHFRVb3qVUdTtBew| title=Alaska: A Guide to Alaska, Last American Frontier| author=Federal Writers' Project| publisher=US History Publishers| isbn=1603540024, 9781603540025| accessdate=2008-09-23] This settlement was destroyed by Stephen Golottof, a Russian settler who had made his home on Umnak Island, at the request of the natives of the latter island. [cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=J4q4hvs62XgC&pg=PA339&lpg=PA339&dq=Stephen+Golottof&source=web&ots=iW5DFCs27V&sig=2cqyu_LT57muuKpHF5fthPOATB0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result| title=ibid. page 339| accessdate=2008-09-23] Today, the island is uninhabited, though tourists to the Islands of Four Mountains group occasionally visit it by boat. [cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/9912/field.html| title=Behind "Storming the Islands of Fire and Ice"| first=Jon| last= Bowermaster| publisher=National Geographic| accessdate=2008-09-23]

F/V Tae Woong shipwreck

On May 6, 1987, the "Tae Woong #603", a convert|64|m|ft|sing=on, 1,500-ton South Korean fishing boat, ran aground on the east side of the island. [cite web|url=http://www.amnwr.com/ShipwreckList.htm| title=Shipwrecks on Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge| publisher=amnwr.com| accessdate=2008-09-24] cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507350| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 1| date=1987-05-06| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] Although the crew of 49 was quickly rescued by the United States Coast Guard, the ship was too far grounded to be salvageable. Officials worried about the effect the convert|450000|l|USgal of diesel fuel on the ship, which was leaking from a ruptured fuel tank at a rate of more than convert|5000|l|USgal| per hour, could have on the wildlife in the area (Uliaga and the entire Islands of Four Mountains group are protected as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge). [cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507352| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 3| date=1987-05-06| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] By the morning of May 8, the ship had leaked well over convert|60000|l|USgal of oil and a slick spread more than convert|3|km|mi around the vessel, which had acquired a 15-degree list to starboard.cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507354| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 5| date=1987-05-08| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] Fortunately, the shipwreck had occurred a few weeks before the horned puffin population had returned to the island for the summer, though the leaking fuel could potentially have an impact on the 500,000 to 1 million migratory birds that resided on Chagulak Island, convert|65|km|mi|abbr=on to the west, if not cleaned up quickly. [cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507355| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 6| date=1987-05-11| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] On May 11, the US Office of Response and Restoration and the ship's South Korean owners declared the vessel a total loss and decided to eliminate the oil slick and the remaining fuel on board by blowing it up with high explosives.cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507356| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 7| date=1987-05-11| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] They concluded that the other option of transferring the remaining fuel on the ship to another vessel would be impossible due to the hazardous navigational conditions around the island and the time that would be required to implement the plan. The ship was detonated on May 13 and the slick and remaining fuel were successfully eliminated. [cite web|url=http://www.incidentnews.gov/entry/507358| title=NOAA Incident History - F/V TAE WOONG - Bulletin 9| date=1987-05-20| publisher=NOAA| accessdate=2008-09-24] The wreck was determined to be the result of navigational error.

References

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