Puffin Island, Alaska

Puffin Island is a rocky islet in the Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. It is located off Spafarief Bay at the mouth of Eschscholtz Bay, just south of the Choris Peninsula, in the Northwest Arctic Borough. coord|66|13|N|161|51|W|region:US.

This island is located 3.3 Km NW of Chamisso Island, 58 mi. SW of Selawik, Kotzebue-Kobuk Low. Puffin Island is a steep rock and, though much smaller than Chamisso Island, it has many more nesting birds on its surface, especially horned puffins. Both islands are part of the Chukchi Sea unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. [ [http://alaskamaritime.fws.gov/units/ChukchiMAIN.htm Chukchi Sea Unit, AMNWR] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]

This island was named in 1826 by Captain Frederick William Beechey (1831, p. 255), RN. He wrote, "Detached from Chamisso there is a steep rock which by way of distinction we named Puffin Island."

Puffin Island is a Natural Reserve since December 7, 1912. The protected area includes Chamisso Island and nearby Puffin Island, as well as some rocky islets nearby. [ [http://www.bartleby.com/57/13.html Roosevelt, Theodore. 1916. A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open: Appendix B ] ]

ee also

*Chamisso Wilderness

References

External links

* [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=108:3:15845223094965297813::NO::P3_FID:1413820 GNIS listing]