Fauna
The Aleutians are home to many large colonies of seabirds, including Buldir Island, with 21 breeding seabird species, including the Bering Sea-endemic Red-legged Kittiwake. Large seabird colonies are also present at Kiska, Gareloi, Semisopochnoi, Bogoslof, and others. The islands are also frequented by vagrant Asiatic birds, including the Common Rosefinch, Siberian Rubythroat, Bluethroat, Lanceolated Warbler, and the first North American record of the Intermediate Egret
The habitats of the Aleutians are largely unspoiled but wildlife is affected by competition from introduced species such as cattle, caribou, and foxes. Radioactivity is still present in the environment following nuclear weapon testing on Amchitka in 1971. Today almost all of the Aleutians are protected as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Aleutian Islands Wilderness.
Read more about this topic: Aleutian Islands
Famous quotes containing the word fauna:
“The whole fauna of human fantasies, their marine vegetation, drifts and luxuriates in the dimly lit zones of human activity, as though plaiting thick tresses of darkness. Here, too, appear the lighthouses of the mind, with their outward resemblance to less pure symbols. The gateway to mystery swings open at the touch of human weakness and we have entered the realms of darkness. One false step, one slurred syllable together reveal a man’s thoughts.”
—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)