Chiswell Islands
The Chiswell Islands are a group of rocky, uninhabited islands, accessible only by boat or airplane, within the Kenai [Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Kenai Peninsula Borough of Alaska] in the Gulf of Alaska. These islands are 35 miles south of Seward, Alaska. They are part of the Alaska Maritime [National Wildlife Refuge] and an important bird sanctuary. The area is very active seismically and evidence of this can be seen in the rugged landscape, a rough hewn landscape that has also been carved by high tides and rough seas. These island appear to rise vertically out of the sea; there are no horizontal beaches. Starfish, barnacles and other sea life that thrive in a rocky habitat are abundant. The islands are inhabited by millions of marine birds and mammals and is the location of a small rookery of endangered Steller sea lions.
Every year millions of birds of various species nest on the refuge islands. Birds that nest on these islands include horned puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, tufted puffins and various auklets such as Cassin's auklet and the whiskered auklet.