Quick Facts
To get to Eschscholtz Bay you can fly in to Kotzebue, Deering, or Buckland.
An arm of Kotzebue Sound, 45 miles southwest of Selawik; Kotzebue-Kobuk Low. 11 miles wide.
Eschscholtz Bay is a well enclosed, but still wide and susceptible to winds. On its north it's framed by the Baldwin Peninsula, east and south by mainland, to it's west by Choris Peninsula. The bay is fed by Buckland River and Kauk River, along with Dick Slough and other small streams.
Eschscholtz Bay is traditional subsistence beluga hunting area for the Inupiaq Eskimos of the Kanigmiut nation who would hunt beluga in July. In late July-August they would hunt caribou in the surrounding hills. Bears can also be found along the bay.
John Muir stopped for a week and explored Eschscholtz Bay while aboard Steamer Corwin, on October 4, 1881. To read of his account Click Here.
named in 1816 by Lieutenant Otto von Kotzebue, Imperial Russian Navy (IRN), for his ship's physician, Dr. Frederick Eschscholtz.
Naming
Eschscholtz Bay was named in 1816 by Lt. Otto von Kotzebue, IRN, in honor of his ship's physician, Dr. Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz.
