Etolin Strait is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

of the Pacific Ocean in western

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, the United States. It is located inside the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area, an 8.2 million acre essential fish habitat established in 2008 which prohibits fishing with nonpelagic trawl gear.

Geography

The strait connects

Kuskokwim Bay Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside ...

and the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

, at . It is long and 48–80 km (30-50) miles wide. It is known for strong tidal currents. It is between

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; ) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at a latitude of about 60°N. The ...

to its west and Nelson Island and the Alaskan mainland to its east. It is demarcated by Cape Etolin to the northwest and

Cape Corwin Cape Corwin is the easternmost point of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea in the U.S. state of Alaska. In the Yupik languages, Cup'ig language it is known as ''Cing'ig'' ("point", as in point of land). According to Donald Orth (1967, Dictionary o ...

to the southwest (both on Nunivak Island), by Cape Vancouver on Nelson Island to the northeast, and by Cape Avinol on the Alaskan mainland to the southeast.

History

Etolin Strait is named after

Adolf Etolin Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...

, who was the first European to discover it, and originally named it Cook Strait. Etolin was subsequently the colonial governor of

Russian America Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

from 1840 to 1845.

References

Bodies of water of the Bering Sea Bodies of water of Bethel Census Area, Alaska Straits of Alaska Straits of the Pacific Ocean {{BethelAK-geo-stub