Egg Island is about 0.7 miles (1.1 km) wide, located 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast across Sedanka Pass from Cape Sedanka on Sedanka Island and 1.4 miles (2.3 km) southeast of Old Man Rocks in the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Archipelago, about 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Akutan and 20 miles (32 km) east-southeast of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The island is separated from Unalaska Island by Beaver Inlet to the north and Ugadak Strait to the west. The island’s name is a translation of the Russian “Ostrov Yaichnoy,” meaning “island of eggs,” given in 1792 by Lieutenant Gavril Sarychev of the Imperial Russian Navy. The U.S. Bureau of Fisheries published it as “Egg Island” in 1888. Old Man Rocks are located off the northeast tip of Sedanka Island and were named by Captain John J. Gilbert, commander of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Pathfinder, during 1900-1901.
Historically, several small villages were located in Beaver Inlet. The largest of these was Biorka, situated at the eastern end near Sedanka Pass. The chief of Biorka controlled hunting and access to the outer coast, where seals were numerous. Other villages needed permission from the Biorka chief to hunt outside Beaver Inlet. The chief stationed sentries atop Old Man Rocks to watch for poachers. The taller of the two prominent rocks is about 100 feet (30 m) high and flat-topped, providing both safety and a vantage point for monitoring hunting activities.
Thousands of vessels navigate through Unimak Pass annually. In 2012, 1,961 deep-draft vessels made 4,615 recorded transits. This great circle route through the Aleutians is more commonly used for westbound voyages, with 3,109 (67%) transits being westbound and 1,369 (30%) eastbound. Besides Unimak Pass, smaller vessels may use other passes, such as Sedanka Pass. On October 30, 2009, the fishing vessel Carley Renee capsized near Egg Island, leaving an oil sheen drifting away from a sea lion colony located on the island’s northern tip. The crew safely abandoned the vessel and were rescued by the nearby fishing vessel Guardian. The Western Viking arrived on the scene at 7:30 a.m. on November 1, 2009, and secured a tow line. However, at 3:10 p.m., the Carley Renee sank in Sedanka Pass, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Egg Island. Read more here and here. Explore more of Egg Island and Sedanka Pass here: