Lebyazhya Bay Explained

Lebyazhya Bay (Russian: Лебя́жья губа́) is a small bay that indents the south side of Feklistova Island, one of the Shantar Islands, in the western Sea of Okhotsk. Its entrance is 11.3km (07miles) wide and it is 5.6km (03.5miles) deep. There are three small bays at its head: Enegelma Road to the west, Soboleva to the north, and Rosseta to the east. A small island, Sukhotina, lies to its southeast. In the spring and summer it is host to a small nesting colony of thick-billed murre.^[1] A number of streams of fresh water flow down the hills into the bay. Spring tides rise 6.5m (21.3feet) while neaps rise 2.4m (07.9feet).^[2]

History

Between 1852 and 1889,^{[3] [4]} American whaleships anchored in the bay to stow down^[5] or boil oil,^[6] flense whales,^[7] and obtain wood and water^[8] or shelter from storms.^[9] They called it Feklistoff Harbor,^[10] Bloomer Bay,^[11] or Harbor Bay.^[12] Ships typically anchored in five^[13] to nine fathoms of water,^[14] usually in Soboleva Bay.^{[2] [15]} As many as forty-two ships could be anchored in Lebyazhya Bay at one time.^[16] Though ships mainly anchored in the bay to get wood and water, boats were also sent ashore to catch trout,^[17] collect berries,^[18] or to shoot ducks^[18] or bears.^[19] Although these ships visited the Shantar region to hunt bowhead whales, they seldom chased whales in the bay itself.^[20] Men that had been killed by whales^[21] or died of disease^[22] were buried ashore. Two ships were condemned in the bay, the brig Tarquina (210 tons), of Honolulu, under Captain Weaver, and the bark Columbus (344 tons), of New London, under Captain Edwards. The former had been damaged in the ice in June 1856 while the latter was wrecked in Tugur Bay in August 1858.^{[23] [24]} Both were sold;^{[23] [25]} one of them was also pilfered.^[26] The schooner E. L. Frost (141 tons), of Honolulu, was left in the bay for the winter of 1860–1861. She served as tender to the bark Benjamin Rush (385 tons), also of Honolulu, during the seasons of 1860 and 1861.^{[27] [28]}

Notes and References

1. Kondratyev, A. Y., Litvinenko, N. M., Shibaev, Y. V., Vyatkin, P. S., & Kondratyeva, L. F. (2000). "The breeding seabirds of the Russian Far East". Seabirds of the Russian Far East, 37-81.
2. United States. (1918). Asiatic Pilot, Volume 1: East coast of Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Chosen. Washington: Hydrographic Office.
3. Arctic, of Fairhaven, September 20, 1852. In Gelett, C. W. (1917). A life on the ocean: Autobiography of Captain Charles Wetherby Gelett. Honolulu, Hawaii: Hawaiian Gazette Co., Ltd.
4. Arnolda, of New Bedford, September 24-26, October 4-6, 14-17, 1874, Old Dartmouth Historical Society (ODHS); Mary and Helen II, of San Francisco, August 10-12, August 18-23, 1885, Kendall Whaling Museum (KWM); E. F. Herriman, of San Francisco, August 28–31, 1889, George Blunt White Library (GBWL).
5. Daniel Wood, of New Bedford, September 23, 1857, Nicholson Whaling Collection (NWC).
6. Harrison, of New Bedford, September 4–6, 1853, NWC.
7. William Wirt, of New Bedford, July 27, 1855, NWC.
8. Mary Frazier, of New Bedford, August 14–19, 1859, NWC.
9. Josephine, of New Bedford, September 23-25, 1861, KWM.
10. Midas, of New Bedford, August 12-16, 1858, NWC.
11. Cicero, of New Bedford, July 20-27, 1855, KWM.
12. Phoenix, of Nantucket, October 10-19, 1854, Nantucket Historical Association (NHA).
13. Bart Gosnold, of New Bedford, September 11-13, 1863, GBWL.
14. Nassau, of New Bedford, August 29-31, 1855, ODHS.
15. Mary and Helen II, of San Francisco, August 10, 1885, KWM.
16. Nimrod, of New Bedford, September 19, 1859, KWM.
17. Mary and Helen II, of San Francisco, August 11, 1885, KWM.
18. E. F. Herriman, of San Francisco, August 29, 1889, GBWL.
19. Governor Troup, of New Bedford, August 26, 1863, NWC.
20. Cicero, of New Bedford, September 1, 1863, KWM.
21. William C. Nye, of San Francisco, September 4-6, 1862, Bancroft Library.
22. Phoenix, of Nantucket, October 9-10, 1858, NHA.
23. Friend, of Honolulu, November 15, 1856, Vol. 5/13, No. 11, p. 88.
24. Book: Starbuck, Alexander . History of the American Whale Fishery from Its Earliest Inception to the year 1876 . 1878 . Castle . 1-55521-537-8 .
25. Montezuma, of New London, August 24, 1858, NWC.
26. Phoenix, of Nantucket, September 22, 1858, NHA.
27. Benjamin Rush, of Honolulu, in Polynesian, Honolulu, December 8, 1860, Vol. XVII, No. 32.
28. Benjamin Rush, of Honolulu, October 11, 1861, in Polynesian, Honolulu, November 23, 1861, Vol. XVIII, No. 30.