Cape Krusenstern National Monument

Cape Krusenstern National Monument in northern Alaska on the shore of the Chukchi Sea protects a series of beach ridges that are important archaeological sites. It also preserves the habitat of tundra wildlife and marine mammals. Established in 1978, it encompasses a coastal area of 659,807 acres. Tidal lagoons form natural fish traps for the Eskimo population. Excavations have unearthed ivory and other artifacts that shed light on nearly every period of Eskimo life for some 4,000 years. The monument was named for the explorer Adam Johann Krusenstern (1770-1846), the first Russian to circumnavigate (1803-06) the globe.