64 ° 29' 6" N,
166 ° 12' 11.999" W
Nome (CA)
75 ft (22.86 m)
in Bering Sea, 5 mi. off S coast of Seward Peninsula, 25 mi. W of Nome;
HistoryNamed August 5, 1778, by Captain Cook (1785, v. 2, p. 441), RN: "We found, a little way from the shore where we landed, a sledge, which occassioned this name being given to the island." According to Martin Sauer the Eskimo name is "Ayak." Captain Beechey (1831, p. 291-292), Royal Navy (RN), noted: "it is singular that this island, which was named Sledge Island by Captain Cook, from the circumstances of one of these implements being found upon it, should be called by a word signifying the same thing in Esquimaux language."
