Kaktovik Lagoon

Kaktovik Lagoon in Detail.

On the N coast of Alaska, the Beaufort Sea, between the SE side of Barter Island and the mainland, Arctic Plain.

Eskimo name reported by Leffingwell (1919, p. 93) as the local name for Barter Island. He spells the name "Kaktoavik" and gives Vilhjalmur Stefansson's spelling as "Kaaktovik." According to Leffingwell the name means "seining place." It is also reported to be based on the Eskimo word "Kaktoavik" referring to the search for a drowned man. The application of the name to the lagoon was recommended by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) in 1960. There is some local usage of the name "Akvakniakvuk Lagoon" meaning "whaling place," because the Eskimo on Barter Island would kill whales in the shoal waters .