North Pacific High Sea

South of Sanak Island, the open Pacific is exposed to storms sweeping along the Aleutian chain. The island itself was home to Unangan communities who drew on the fish and marine mammals of these waters. In 1778 the crew of James Cook's expedition caught abundant halibut near Sanak, prompting him to call the group the Halibut Isles. Farther from shore, the water opens into the immense northern ocean.