Akpatok Island

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January 22, 2001JPEG

natural color - January 22, 2001TIFF

false color - January 22, 2001TIFF

Google Earth - January 22, 2001KML

Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243 m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walrus and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for native Inuit people.

This image was acquired by Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on January 22, 2001.

Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

View this area in EO Explorer

Image of the Day for February 25, 2002

Instrument:: Landsat 7 — ETM+

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Feb 24, 2002

NASA’s Quikscat Spacecraft Turns Operational

Feb 26, 2002

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Wrangel Island, Russia

The ghostly white shapes northeast and immediately southwest of Wrangel Island are sea ice. Over the course of the satellite record, Arctic sea ice has advanced and retreated past Wrangel Island many times. From 1979 to 2000, the sea ice edge at the end of summer generally fell somewhere in the vicinity of Wrangel Island, but this is not the first summer when the sea ice edge has retreated well north of the island.

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Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

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Aves Island

Named Isla de Aves in Spanish, (meaning “Island of the Birds”) Aves Island lies west of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It provides a nesting site to green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and, of course, birds. Because the abundant bird droppings, known as guano, could be used in fertilizer and gunpowder, guano miners worked on the island until they depleted the supply. Since its discovery by Europeans, likely in the late 16^th century, Aves Island was subsequently claimed by several European nations. The island is currently claimed by Venezuela, although disputes about ownership of the island, and the surrounding exclusive economic zone in the Caribbean, continue today.

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Akpatok Island

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