St. Lawrence Island, Remote island in Bering Sea, Alaska
St. Lawrence Island is an island in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia, stretching roughly 90 miles wide and 60 miles long (145 by 95 kilometers). The flat terrain consists mostly of tundra and rocky coastline dotted with shallow lagoons and a few low hills.
People have lived here for more than 2,000 years, long before European explorers arrived. Vitus Bering sighted the island in 1728, but the communities of Gambell and Savoonga remained largely independent and self-governing into the 20th century.
Residents speak Siberian Yupik and rely on seal and walrus hunting as their ancestors have done for centuries. In both villages you see drying racks with meat and rows of walrus bones that speak to daily life tied to the ocean.
Charter flights from Nome bring travelers to the island, where a few guest houses offer accommodation. The best time to visit is spring, when migratory birds arrive and the weather becomes slightly milder.
More than 2.7 million seabirds arrive each spring to nest, turning the cliffs into a living jumble of calls and motion. Visitors can watch murres, auklets and other Arctic species from close range.
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