Dean Littlepage

Having recently read "Where the Sea Breaks is Back" about Steller's explorations, "Steller's Island" was a nice follow-on. While it also tells the story of Bering's second voyage which brought the naturalist to the shore of Alaska where he collected and described an amazing range of plants and animals, it presents different aspects of the expedition, and the epic winter (1741-42)spent on Bering Island during the return phase of the expedition.

The story includes a visit to Kayak Island by the author, who re-traced Steller's steps, which was the first "western" contact with Alaska, the author uses as a spring board to compare and contrast the 250 year span of time, and what has happened to some of the species Steller first described. The book raises plenty of things to think about regarding the changes over that span of time.… (mere)