Ion Island
Encyclopedia
Iony Island or Jonas' Island, formerly Ostrov Svyatogo Iony (Saint Jonas
' Island), is a small island in the Sea of Okhotsk
. It is 1.6 km (1 mi) in length and 850 m (0.5 mi) wide and it has a conical shape.
Iony Island is the only island in the Sea of Okhotsk that is located in the open sea. All the other islands in the Okhotsk Sea are either coastal islands or they belong to the Kuril
island chain.
Remote and isolated Iony Island is a breeding ground for the steller sea lion.
Administratively Iony belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai
of the Russian Federation.
s had reached Jonas Island. By the 1850s the island's waters had become a common hunting ground for ships cruising for bowhead whale
s—Captain Moses Snell, of the ship Pacific, of Fairhaven
, reported seeing as many as forty-five other ships from his masthead early in June 1855. The fleet would usually reach the area by late May or early June, spending a few weeks cruising for whales before sailing to the south and west, following the retreating ice. Some would go ashore to take advantage of the bounty of seabird
s and pinniped
s residing on the island's rocky shores. In the first week of June 1855 the ship Edgar, of Cold Spring
, was wrecked on the island. All hands were saved. Ships sent boats ashore to salvage what they could of the reported 1,600-bbls of oil that had been aboard the ship, while others picked up whatever they found drifting offshore.
Saint Jonas
Saint Jonah or Saint Jonas , was the Metropolitan of Moscow from 1448 to his death in 1461. He was the first Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus', having been appointed without the approval of the patriarch in Constantinople as was the norm.Since the late 1420s, Jonah had been living in the...
' Island), is a small island in the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
. It is 1.6 km (1 mi) in length and 850 m (0.5 mi) wide and it has a conical shape.
Iony Island is the only island in the Sea of Okhotsk that is located in the open sea. All the other islands in the Okhotsk Sea are either coastal islands or they belong to the Kuril
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
island chain.
Remote and isolated Iony Island is a breeding ground for the steller sea lion.
Administratively Iony belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...
of the Russian Federation.
History
As early as 1849 whaleshipWhaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
s had reached Jonas Island. By the 1850s the island's waters had become a common hunting ground for ships cruising for bowhead whale
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
s—Captain Moses Snell, of the ship Pacific, of Fairhaven
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean...
, reported seeing as many as forty-five other ships from his masthead early in June 1855. The fleet would usually reach the area by late May or early June, spending a few weeks cruising for whales before sailing to the south and west, following the retreating ice. Some would go ashore to take advantage of the bounty of seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s and pinniped
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
s residing on the island's rocky shores. In the first week of June 1855 the ship Edgar, of Cold Spring
Cold Spring, New York
Cold Spring is a village located in the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York. The population was 1,983 at the 2000 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville...
, was wrecked on the island. All hands were saved. Ships sent boats ashore to salvage what they could of the reported 1,600-bbls of oil that had been aboard the ship, while others picked up whatever they found drifting offshore.