St. Matthew Island

Infobox Islands
name = St. Matthew Island


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location = Bering Sea
coordinates = coord|60|25|10.37|N|172|45|36.046|W|display=inline,title
archipelago = none
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area = 137.857 mi² (357.049 km²)
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elevation = 1476 ft (450 m)
country = USA
country admin divisions title = State
country admin divisions = Alaska
population = 0
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St. Matthew Island is an uninhabited island in the Bering Sea in Alaska, 295 km (183 miles) WNW of Nunivak Island. The island has a land area of 137.857 sq mi (357.049 km²), making it the 43rd largest island in the United States. Its most southerly point is Cape Upright which features cliff faces which exceed 1000 feet (304 m). The highest point on the island is 1476 Ft (450 m) above sea level.

There is a small island off its northwestern point called Hall Island. The 5 km wide sound between both islands is called Sarichef Strait. A small rocky islet called Pinnacle Rock lies 15 km to the south of Saint Matthew Island.

The entire island's natural scenery and wildlife is protected as it is part of the Bering Sea unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

The United States Coast Guard maintained a manned LORAN station on the island during the 1940s.

Mammals

Presently, arctic foxes and insular voles are the only mammals resident on the island, though polar bears occasionally visit (via sea ice). [http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=179]

In 1944, 29 reindeer were introduced to the island by the United States Coast Guard to provide an emergency food source. The coast guard abandoned the island a few years later, leaving the reindeer. Subsequently, the reindeer population rose to about 6,000 by 1963 and then died off in the next two years to 43 animals. A scientific study attributed the population crash to the limited food supply in interaction with climatic factors (the winter of 1963-64 was exceptionally severe in the region)ref|klein. By the 1980s, the reindeer population had completely died outref|forum.

Fish

There is a small lake on the island which is inhabited by chinook salmon ("Oncorhynchus tshawytscha"), Dolly Varden ("Salvelinus malma") and Arctic char.

References

* [http://dieoff.org/page80.htm David R. Klein, "The Introduction, Increase, and Crash of Reindeer on St. Matthew Island", Alaska Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska]
* [http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1672.html Alaska Science Forum]
* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-transpose=N&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=100$10000US020500001001045&-search_results=01000US&-_showChild=Y&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y St. Matthew Island: Block 1045, Census Tract 1, Bethel Census Area, Alaska] United States Census Bureau