St. Paul Island in The Pribilofs, Alaska
Text and images copyright Heather Forcier, all rights reserved

Upon a visit to St. Paul I quickly became enchanted with the tiny, remote island. At cliff’s edge, standing against fierce winds, I strained through dense fog to see rock ledges and the bird activity around them, wondering how these creatures could endure the conditions. Reindeer and Arctic Foxes roam the island, and I puzzled at how they had come to be there. The more I saw and learned about St. Paul, the more fascinated I became. Craters and other formations, reminiscent of a volcanic past, compelled me to research the island’s geology.

Zapadni Cliffs at St. Paul Island in a heavy fog. (Image converted to black and white.)

THE NATURAL HISTORY
Roughly 300,000 years ago, over a hotspot in the Bering plate, a volcanic eruption emerged through a cold, windswept Bering Sea. Several dozen eruptions up until about 3,000 years ago solidified to leave behind the modest island of St. Paul. The cooling lave formed today’s bedrock of columnar basalt, rich in olivine, topped by light and gaseous scoria piled up in tall cones.

An estimated 20,000 years ago a stage in the Ice Age hoarded much of the earth's water in the form of ice. The Bering Sea was depleted of about three hundred feet of its depth to expose a relatively shallow Bering Sea shelf. This temporarily created a land bridge connecting the Asian and North American continents. It is believed that plants, animals, and possibly even people made their way from one continent to another via this bridge. The land mass was eventually engulfed by the sea once again leaving behind several remote islands.

Years of harsh elements whittled away the evolving landmass as an ecosystem developed. Rainfall percolated quickly through the nutrient-poor soil and, in combination with fierce winds, made it virtually impossible for trees to take root and grow. However, the approximate twenty hours of daylight in summer months fostered a variety of rugged low vegetation and abundant wildflowers that today still brighten the landscape with their lush colors. A relentless Bering Sea pounded at St. Paul's shores and erosion carved steep vertical cliffs over part of the island's perimeter.

Northern fur seals were attracted to the beaches of St. Paul where large rookeries developed, seals returning annually to bear and raise young. Masses of seabirds favored the island's high cliffs and began nesting in the vertical rock ledges, away from land-based predators.

	The Northern Fur Seal played a significant role in St. Paul's human history.

THE PEOPLE
In the late 1700s Pribylov, a sea-faring Russian, with his crew of both Aleut and Russian peoples sought out fur seal breeding sites. Human occupation began first at St. George Island which was named after their ship. Roughly a year later, the persistent fog cleared long enough for another island to be visible from St. George. After sailing the forty miles in between, their boats landed at the island among one of the largest Northern Fur Seal populations ever seen by the crew. The island’s name, originally St. Peter and St. Paul’s Island after the holiday on which it had been discovered, was later abbreviated to St. Paul Island. Three additional smaller islets were dubbed Otter Island, Sea Lion Rock, and Walrus Island for presence of wildlife respective to each.

With an enormous market for furs, the arriving Russians took advantage and recruited Aleutian Island natives for their excellent hunting skills. Otters and fur seals were hunted aggressively; the otter population of the Pribilofs was quickly hunted to extinction.

Ownership of the Pribilofs transferred to the United States with the Alaska Purchase in 1867 and seal hunting continued. During World War II, Aleuts of the Pribilofs were moved to the Alaskan mainland where lives were lost due to poor living and working conditions. Eventually the United States government was sued for fair working conditions and freedom. Acts passed during the 1960s and 1970s relegated these rights to the natives. They were also awarded the Pribilof Island lands where they maintained positions in local governments.

A view of the village at St. Paul Island, with an unexpected break in cloudy skies.

THE ISLAND TODAY
Today, St. Paul is inhabited by approximately seven hundred people who are concentrated in the village area. The economy is supported in part by a fish plant that processes halibut in the summer and Snow Crab in the winter. The native corporation Tanadgusix (TDX), runs St. Paul Island Tour company. Biologists, naturalists, birders, and photographers come to marvel, observe, study, and enjoy the spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife.

Weathered peaks and crater rims are prominent markers of the island's volcanic beginnings; the highest peak still reaches 665 feet. Solidified lava flows are evident on parts of the island. People can descend into the island's lava tubes, tunnels formed when surface lava solidifies while the still liquid interior lava recedes and drains away leaving a hollow passageway. Breakdown of rocks rich in olivine has left green sediments, with several of the shores now lined with green-tinted sands. Volcanic activity may not be entirely in the past for St. Paul; future eruptions are still considered a possibility.

The highest cliffs reach roughly 375 feet. Plant roots help to stabilize soil somewhat and assist in slowing down the island's inevitable erosion. St. Paul's current dimensions are about sixteen miles long and nine wide.

With numbers once in the millions dipping into the low hundreds of thousands by the early 1900’s, commercial hunting of fur seals was banned in a conservation effort in 1984. Today, a carefully monitored taking of seals provides meat for natives who register for the harvest. Today's population is an estimated 650,000 seals with declining numbers, despite the end of commercial harvesting. The exact cause of this trend is uncertain.

Pack ice stretching from the High Arctic brought Arctic Foxes to the island as the small mammals followed Polar Bears hunting over the ice. While the agile foxes are able maneuver the cliffs and steal eggs, even their growing population has little effect on the profound number of breeding birds.

St. Paul is carpeted in greenery in summer with expanses of wildflowers. Appearing smooth and continuous, the thick vegetation actually obscures uneven terrain full of holes and hidden rock. The exterior of the island can be accessed by roads topped with gravel or scoria. Winds are usually of significant velocity, and the island is frequently shrouded in a heavy fog, although there are rare breaks of blue sky and sunshine.

A growing number of introduced and now feral reindeer frequent the island's interior. Introduced to St. Paul as an alternative food source for inhabitants in the early 1900s, they maintain a wary distance from observers. Their herd forms a circular mass and moves in a swirling fashion over the uneven surface with surprising speed and agility, leaving crushed tundra in their wake.

It's a rare treat to see the reclusive Reindeer herd. In an elliptical fashion the entire group can move quite quickly over the uneven terrain.

Isolated in this water wilderness three hundred miles west of the Alaskan mainland, surrounded by a nutrient-rich but harsh Bering Sea, life thrives at St. Paul despite such rugged conditions.

Heather Forcier visited St. Paul in July 2003 for nature photography. She gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Derek Lovitch from St. Paul Island Tours who reviewed the article. For more images and articles by Heather visit her website at www.hforcier.com.

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