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Hall Island is a small island located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the northwest of St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea in Alaska, United States. It serves as a haulout site for Pacific walrus. It is 5 miles (8.0 km) in length and has a land area of 6.1758 square miles (15.995 km2). The highest point is 1,610 feet (490 m). Hall Island is uninhabited. It is part of the Bering Sea unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. It is one of three hall islands.
Contents
Map of Hall Island, Alaska, USA
History
Early Russian hunters knew this island as "Ostrov Morzhovoy" ('Walrus Island') (Tevenkov, 1852, mpa 20). The Imperial Russian Hydrographic Department Chart 1427 called it "Ostrov Sindsha" probably for Lt. Sind, its alleged discoverer, in 1764.
Commodore Joseph Billings of the Imperial Russian Navy and Lt. Gavril Sarychev anchored between this island and St. Matthew on July 14, 1791 (O.S.). Since 1875, this island has been called "Hall" on American maps, presumably for Lt. Robert Hall, who was with Captain Billings, or also for Cape Hall.