Barrier Islands and Lagoons at Cape Espenberg - Kotzebue Sound

Kotzebue Sound (russian: Залив Коцебу) is an arm of the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

in the western region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. It is on the north side of the

Seward Peninsula The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska whose westernmost point is Cape Prince of Wales. The peninsula projects about into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi S ...

and bounded on the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is long and wide. Kotzebue Sound is located in the transitional climate zone, which is characterized by long, cold winters and cool summers. The average low temperature during January is ; the average high during July is . Temperature extremes have been measured from to . Snowfall averages , with total precipitation of per year. Kotzebue Sound is ice-free from early July until early October. The towns of

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...

, Kiwalik and Deering are on the shores of Kotzebue Sound. Kotzebue Sound was explored and named in 1816 by Baltic German

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Otto von Kotzebue Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania. Early life ...

while searching for the

Northeast Passage The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage (N ...

in the service of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Fauna

A wide variety of birdlife is apparent at Kotzebue Sound including the

tufted puffin The tufted puffin (''Fratercula cirrhata''), also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family (Alcidae) found throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of three species of puffin that make ...

black-throated diver The black-throated loon (''Gavia arctica''), also known as the Arctic loon and the black-throated diver, is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. It winter ...

and

red-throated loon The red-throated loon (North America) or red-throated diver (Britain and Ireland) (''Gavia stellata'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds prim ...

. The sound is a location for the presence of the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

, ''Ursus maritimus''; in fact, the world's record largest polar bear at 2,210 pounds (1,002 kg) was observed at Kotzebue Sound in 1960.

Notes

References

* Giddings, J. Louis, and Douglas D. Anderson. ''Beach Ridge Archeology of Cape Krusenstern Eskimo and Pre-Eskimo Settlements Around Kotzebue Sound, Alaska''. Washington DC: National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1986. * Lucier, Charles V., and James W. VanStone. ''Traditional Beluga Drives of the Iñupiat of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska''. Fieldiana, new ser., no. 25. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1995. *

External links

Robert L. Dey Typescript and Correspondence on a Trip to Kotzebue Sound
at Dartmouth College Library Sounds of Alaska Bodies of water of Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Bodies of water of the Chukchi Sea {{NorthwestArcticAK-geo-stub