The Punuk Islands (russian: Пунукские острова) are a chain of three small islets in the Bering Sea off the eastern end of St. Lawrence Island."Rainey, Froelich - Eskimo Prehistory: the Okvik Site (1941) ."
''Northern Waterways.'' (retrieved 2 Dec 2009) They are located 8.5 km to the southeast of Cape Apavawook and 18 km to the southwest of Niyghapak Point. These islands were drawn on the map with their Siberian Yupik name, which was obtained in 1849 by Capt. M. D. Tebenkov, of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

. They are also known by the names "Pinik Islands" and "Poongook Islands". The Punuk Islands are a natural habitat for

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

es and seabirds. The

Tundra Vole The tundra vole (''Microtus oeconomus'') or root vole is a medium-sized vole found in Northern and Central Europe, Asia, and northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. In the western part of the Netherlands, the tundra ...

s found on the island belong to an endemic subspecies ('' Microtus oeconomus punukensis''). The Okvik site, a significant Punuk culture archaeological site, was discovered on the Punuk Islands by Otto W. Geist in 1931. Geist and Ivar Skarland excavated the site in 1934, which yielded fossilized walrus ivory artifacts, many of which are now in the collection of the University of Alaska.

References

External links

USGS-GNIS

Mass Natural Mortality of Walruses at the Punuk Islands

Artifacts from the Punuk Islands
Alaska's Digital Archives Islands of Nome Census Area, Alaska Seabird colonies Islands of the Bering Sea Islands of Alaska Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska {{NomeAK-geo-stub