The Spafaryev Islands, or Spafaryev Island (''Остров Спарафьева''; Ostrov Spafar’yeva), a relatively large double

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, are located in the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

. It was formerly known as Korovi Island.United States. (1918). ''Asiatic Pilot, Volume 1: East coast of Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Chosen''. Washington: Hydrographic Office. It lies 7 km east of the Antamlan Peninsula (also known as Khmitevsky), the southernmost peninsula enclosing the

Taui Bay Taui Bay (Russian: Тауйская губа; ''Tauyskaya Guba'') is a body of water in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of the Magadan Oblast in Russia. The bay opens to the south. Geography It is some 130 km (80 mi) wide and 75 km (46 ...

(Тауйская губа; Tauyskaya Guba) from its western side. Administratively these islands belong to the

Magadan Oblast Magadan Oblast ( rus, Магаданская область, r=Magadanskaya oblast, p=məgɐˈdanskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Far East region of the country, and is adminis ...

of the

Russian Federation 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 ...

Etymology

The Spafaryev Islands were named after Major General knight

Leontiy Spafaryev Knight Leontiy Vassilievich Spafaryev (russian: Леонтий Васильевич Спафарьев; 19 March 1765 – 30 January 1847) was a Lieutenant General of the Imperial Russian Navy.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 a ...

. Spafaryev was Director of the

Russian Lighthouse Administration The Russian Hydrographic Service, full current official name Department of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation ( rus, Управление навигации и океанографии Министер ...

and cartographer of the

Russian Admiralty Board of Admiralties (russian: Адмиралтейств-коллегия, ''Admiralteystv-kollegiya'') was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy and admiralty shipyards in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the ...

History

The islands were frequented by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

whaleship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

s hunting

bowhead The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus'') is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and the only living representative of the genus ''Balaena''. They are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic and subarctic waters, an ...

and

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...

s between 1849 and 1885. Talan was called Green Island, while Spafaryev was called Fog Island. Boats were sent ashore to shoot

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s and collect eggs and berries as well as to search for whales.

Geography

The Spafaryev Islands are composed of two islands joined by a narrow landspit, less than 750 m wide. *The northern "island", Ryabokon Island (Ostrov Ryabokon’), is roughly triangular in shape. It is the larger of the two, being 9 km (5.6 mi) long and having a maximum width of 5 km (3.1 mi). *Spafaryev Island proper is located at the southern end. It is roughly shovel-shaped and is 7 km (4.3 mi) long and has a maximum width of 4.5 km (2.8 mi). *Talan Island (Остров Талан) , is a small roundish island, which lies 11 km (6.8 mi) to the north of Spafaryev's northern tip. It is 2 km (1.2 mi) across.Talan location
/ref> Large colonies of

s nest on the island in the spring and summer, including over a million crested auklet, a few hundred thousand

tufted Tufting is a type of textile manufacturing in which a thread is inserted on a primary base. It is an ancient technique for making warm garments, especially mittens. After the knitting is done, short U-shaped loops of extra yarn are introduced thr ...

and

horned puffin The horned puffin (''Fratercula corniculata'') is an auk found in the North Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Alaska, Siberia and British Columbia. It is a pelagic seabird that feeds primarily by diving for fish. It nests in colonies, often ...

, tens of thousands of

black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

, and thousands of

parakeet auklet The parakeet auklet (''Aethia psittacula'') is a small seabird of the North Pacific. Parakeet Auklets used to be placed on its own in the genus ''Cyclorrhynchus'' ( Kaup, 1829) but recent morphological and genetic evidence suggest it should be pl ...

and

ancient murrelet The ancient murrelet (') is a bird in the auk family. The English term "murrelet" is a diminutive of "murre", a word of uncertain origins, but which may imitate the call of the common guillemot. Ancient murrelets are called "ancient" because th ...

Common murre The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land to ...

also nest here and in the summer

dovekie The little auk or dovekie (''Alle alle'') is a small auk, the only member of the genus ''Alle''. ''Alle'' is the Sami name of the long-tailed duck; it is onomatopoeic and imitates the call of the drake duck. Linnaeus was not particularly famil ...

congregate on the island.Kondratyev, A. Y., Litvinenko, N. M., Shibaev, Y. V., Vyatkin, P. S., & Kondratyeva, L. F. (2000)
"The breeding seabirds of the Russian Far East"
''Seabirds of the Russian Far East'', 37-81.

Steller's sea eagle Steller's sea eagle (''Haliaeetus pelagicus''), also known as Pacific sea eagle or white-shouldered eagle, is a very large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was described first by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. No subspecies are r ...

prey on these seabirds.Utekhina, I., Potapov, E., & McGrady, M. J. (2000). "Diet of the Steller's sea eagle in the northern Sea of Okhotsk". In ''First Symposium on Steller’s and White-tailed Sea Eagles in East Asia''. Tokyo, Japan: Wild Bird Society of Japan (pp. 71-92).

References

External links

Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk
Islands of the Russian Far East Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk Islands of Magadan Oblast {{MagadanOblast-geo-stub