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4 unusual facts about Diomede Islands


Diomede Islands

In summer 1995, British television actor and documentary presenter Michael Palin started his counterclockwise circumnavigation of the Pacific Rim, encompassing 18 different countries, on Little Diomede Island, as part of the BBC series Full Circle.

In 1987, however, Lynne Cox swam from one island to the other, and was congratulated by both Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan for her feat.

King crab

The blue king crab, Paralithodes platypus, lives near St. Matthew Island, the Pribilof Islands, and the Diomede Islands, Alaska, and there are populations along the coasts of Japan and Russia.

Nejib belhedi

On August 17, Nejib succeeded to swim between the Diomede Islands, in a timing of 17H 07' and with 39 minutes of difference with the previous record hold by Lynne Cox.


Ernest William Hawkes

His 1914 publication Dance Festivals of the Alaskan Eskimo was based on the three years Hawkes spent in the Bering Strait District, including on the Diomede Islands and at St. Michael.


see also

Saint Diomedes

Vitus Bering sighted the Diomede Islands on 16 August (O.S., 26 August N.S.) 1728, the day when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saint Diomedes.