Bibliographic Detail
Wynne, M.J., 2009
Reference:
Wynne, M.J. (2009). Marine algae and early explorations in the upper North Pacific and Bering Sea. Algae 24: 1-29.
Abstract:
A synthesis of early exploration and the discovery of marine algae in the upper North Pacific and Bering Sea is
presented covering the period from the late 1730s to around 1900. Information is provided about these early efforts
to gather natural objects, including seaweeds, and names of these algae are enumerated. The first collections of
marine algae in this broad region were those made by Steller and Krasheninnkov from the Kamchatka Peninsula,
Russia, during the Second Kamchatkan Expedition (1735 1742) and were described by Gmelin (1768). The first
known algal collections in Alaska were those made by Merck in his 1790 1791 visits to Unalaska Island during the
Billings expedition (1785 1794). British sponsored expeditions for commercial purposes and for exploration and dis
covery allowed surgeon naturalist Archibald Menzies to gather seaweeds that Dawson Turner and others worked
up back in Europe. Several of the Russian expeditions during the first half of the 18th century had naturalists aboard.
The first Russian circumnavigation of the globe (1803 1806), with the ships ‘Nadeshda’ and ‘Neva,’ under the com
mand of Capt. Adam von Krusenstern had naturalists Langsdorff, Tilesius, and Horner, all of whom collected sea
weeds. The naturalist Adelbert Chamisso accompanied the Romanzof Expedition (1815 1818) on the Russian vessel
‘Rurik’ under the command of Otto von Kotzebue and made collections of algae in the Aleutians as well as in the
Kurils and Kamchatka. The Lütke expedition of 1826 1829 consisted of two ships. Feodor Lütke was in command of
the ‘Seniavin’ with K.H. Mertens aboard as physician naturalist, and the ‘Moller’ was under the command of
Staniukovich accompanied by the naturalist G. Kastalsky. The first American sponsored scientific expedition (1838
1842) was that commanded by Charles Wilkes, and the algae that were collected were worked up by J.W. Bailey and
W.H. Harvey. The Russian naturalist Ilya Voznesenskii spent the period 1839 1849 in Russian America (Alaska and
northern California) energetically traveling and making numerous collections of natural objects as well as ethno
graphic artefacts. His algae were described by F.J. Ruprecht back in St. Petersburg. The Swedish scientific vessel, the
‘Vega’ (1878 1880), was under the command of Nordenskiöld. The naturalist F.R. Kjellman made algal collections
from Port Clarence, Alaska, as well as from Bering Island and St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. The Harriman
Alaskan Expedition in the summer of 1899, with the ship ‘George W. Elder,’ was sponsored by railroad magnate E.
H. Harriman of New York City and had several scientific personnel aboard, including the phycologist De Alton
Saunders. Algae were collected in Alaska and Washington. During the same summer of 1899 a scientific expedition
organized by the University of California and including W.L. Jepson, L.E. Hunt, A.A. Lawson, and W.A. Setchell as
participants also visited Alaska and made collections of algae from various locations.
