Ptichy Island (russian: Остров Птичий, ''Ostrov Ptichy'', meaning ''Bird Island'') is a small island in the
Sea of Okhotsk.
Geography
Ptichy Island is one of the
Shantar Islands. It lies between the southwest point of
Bolshoy Shantar and
Cape Bol'shoy Dugandzha on the mainland. It is a little over 1.6 km (1 mi) in length and rises to a height of 290 m (951 ft).
[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. (2014). ''Sailing Directions (Enroute): East Coast of Russia''. U.S. Government, Springfield, Virginia.]
History
Between 1857 and 1889,
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 ...
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 cruised for
bowhead whales off Ptichiy. They called it Big Stinker or just Stinker Island, "on account of the dead whales drifting along there from the ice". Along with
Utichy, it was considered one of the Stinker Islands. Ships also anchored under it during strong winds and
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
crews spent the night on the island after cruising for whales all day.
[''Antelope'', of Newport, August 22, 1858, Nantucket Historical Association.]
Fauna
In the summer there is a large colony of
spectacled guillemot
The spectacled guillemot or sooty guillemot (''Cepphus carbo'') is a seabird in the auk family.
Description
This species is about with red legs, black bill, and a blackish iris.
The breeding adult spectacled guillemot is distinctive, mostly p ...
s on the island, as well as a smaller nesting colony of
thick-billed murre
The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). This bird is named after the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich. The very deeply black North Pacific subspecies ''Uria lomvia arra'' ...
s.
[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.
References
{{Sea of Okhotsk Islands
Shantar Islands