FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 3 



Aleutians, the Aleuts, who as a race have suffered many vicissi- 

 tudes through earlier contacts with white men. Those with whom 

 we associated were eager to help with information. It is with 

 special affection that I recall the friendly cooperation of Mike 

 Hodikoff, Chief of Attu village, who was ready to do anything 

 to further the work of our expeditions and to add to our knowl- 

 edge. He, with his village, was captured by Japanese invasion 

 forces during World War II ; there is no knowledge of his fate. 



GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 



The Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands (see fig. 1) form 

 a great arc that swings across the northern seas for about 1,500 

 miles, almost to Siberia. The Aleutian chain alone is about 1,100 

 miles long. This arc, together with the Commander Islands, forms 

 a barrier that separates the Bering Sea from the North Pacific 

 Ocean. The Alaska Peninsula extends southwestward from 

 about latitude 59° N., and Amatignak Island, the southernmost 

 of the Aleutians, lies nearly as far south as latitude 51° N.— the 

 same latitude as the north end of Vancouver Island. 



The north shore of the Alaska Peninsula shelves off gradually 

 into the shallow waters of Bering Sea, forming a low coastal 

 plain with a comparatively even coastline. However, farther in- 

 land the land rises to the rugged volcanic Aleutian Range, which 

 runs the length of the Peninsula, and, on the south side, breaks 

 off into the deeper water of the North Pacific. Accordingly, the 

 south shore is irregular and rugged with bays and headlands and 

 offshore rocks and is fringed by offshore islands — notably the 

 Kodiak-Afognak, Semidi, Shumagin, and Sanak Island groups, 

 as well as a number of smaller ones. 



The eastern Aleutians retain some of the characteristics of the 

 Alaska Peninsula. This is most pronounced on Unimak Island, 

 which has a low coastal plain, lagoons, and rugged interior moun- 

 tains that extend southward to the Pacific Ocean. In fact, Unimak 

 Island is separated from the Peninsula by only a narrow strait. 



Numerous eruptions have been recorded since the discovery 

 of these islands, and the Aleutian chain proper consists of over 

 70 named islands, some small, others large; Unimak is about 70 

 miles long. The chain is irregular and is bordered on the north 

 and south sides by deep oceanic troughs. In other words, the 

 south border of the shallow Bering Sea bottom, which is virtually 

 a continental shelf, veers off northwestward so as to leave deep 

 waters north of the Aleutian chain. As Stephen R. Capps (1934, 

 p. 143) has stated, 



