St. George Island (Alaska)

St. George Iceland is the second largest and southernmost of the four to the U.S. state of Alaska Pribilof Islands belonging in the Bering Sea. The 18 km long and 90 km ² island is of volcanic origin and composed predominantly of basalt. From the largest island of St. Paul in the north- west of the archipelago St. George is around 60 km away.

St. George Iceland has 125 inhabitants (as of 2007), all of which live in the same village of St. George.

History

The island of St. George was discovered in 1788 by the Russian navigator Gavriil Loginowitsch Pribylow looking for the summer roosts and the location of the breeding season of the eared seals. According to a story of the people of Unimak, the largest and easternmost island in the Aleutian Islands, driving during a storm off the ship a Vorfahrers. By chance he discovered while an island that was called by the inhabitants of Unimak " Amiq ".

After Pribylow had heard this story, he stood out in 1788 with his ship " St. George " and his team, consisting of Russians and people of the Aleutian Islands, from the main island of the Aleutians, Unalaska, in the lake. After three weeks of wandering, he heard the roar of lions and spotted a small uninhabited island. He named it after his ship " St. George ".

After an extensive hunt for the seals remained at his command a part of his team on the island. Pribylow returned with furs back to Unalaska. The remaining men were given the task to continue to collect sealskins until they are picked up again in the summer. Food supplies were rapidly running out. They lived for the time being of the seal meat and bird eggs. As they sighted an island in the north, they decided to go on a self-built Baidarka there. They gave the island the name of St. Peter and St. Paul. Later, she was known only as St. Paul.

1788 enslaved the Russian-American company of inhabitants of Siberia, Unalaska and Atka and forcibly moved them to the two islands. There they were to act as sealers for society. 1870, the Pribilof Islands were hired by the U.S. government for twenty years. They made houses, food and medical care in exchange for seal pelts available. 1890 extended the U.S. government the lease for another twenty years; However, the fur trade broke through the intense hunting together on the seals in the same year. The population impoverished, food and clothing were scarce and the working conditions poor.

1966 commercial seal hunting was banned, only the residents may hunt for their purchase annually about 500 animals.

Fauna and Flora

On St. George is one of the largest seabird breeding colonies in the northern hemisphere. Even close to the center of St. George there are cliffs with breeding pairs. Approximately 2.5 million seabirds nest on the cliffs, to the so-called "high -bluff ", an approximately 500 meters above the sea cliff in the tundra. Slightly more than 75 % of the stock of the clip gulls have bred up in the 1970s there. After the stock of breeding pairs was greatly diminished, recent studies found that the stocks slowly recover. In addition to around 210 species of birds gather there every summer over a million seals. Other animals are arctic foxes and caribou.

Found on plants in the summer especially angelica, monkshood, various herbs lice, crowberry and geranium.