Tugidak Island is an island of the

Kodiak Archipelago The Kodiak Archipelago (russian: Кадьякский архипелаг , translit = Kad'yakskiy arkhipelag) is an archipelago (group of islands) south of the main land-mass of the state of Alaska (United States), about by air south-west of A ...

Kodiak Island Borough Kodiak Island Borough (russian: Остров Кадьяк) is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2020 census, the population was 13,101, down from 13,592 in 2010. The borough seat is Kodiak. Geography The borough has a total are ...

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., ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It lies southwest of the southern tip of

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...

in the western part of the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...

Sitkinak Island Sitkinak Island is an island of the Kodiak Archipelago of the state of Alaska, United States. It lies south of the southern tip of Kodiak Island in the western part of the Gulf of Alaska. Tugidak Island lies to its west. The two islands are the l ...

lies to its east. The two islands are the largest components of the Trinity Islands of Alaska. The Trinity Islands, and thus Tugidak, are part of the Gulf of Alaska unit of

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (often shortened to Alaska Maritime or AMNWR) is a United States National Wildlife Refuge comprising 2,400 islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs in Alaska, with a total area of , of whi ...

. Tugidak Island has a land area of 173.142 km² (66.85 sq mi) and no resident population. The most prominent feature of the island is the large shallow

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

near its northeastern end. This part of the island was established as the Tugidak Island Critical Habitat Area by the state of Alaska in 1998 as a wildlife conservation area, and is managed by the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is a department within the government of Alaska. ADF&G's mission is to protect, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development in ...

. The island has historically been known as a nesting spot for

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

s as well as many species of marine birds.Tugidak Island Critical Habitat Area
Alaska Department of Fish and Game

References

Islands of the Kodiak Archipelago Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Protected areas of Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Islands of Alaska {{KodiakIslandAK-geo-stub