The Francis Islands
Novasola is an island state in the northern Pacific Ocean. The main island, itself called Novasola, is roughly 473,808 square miles and the largest island in the US as well as the second largest island overall. But the state of Novasola is composed of hundreds of islands, four of which are prominent and of significant size. These are the Novasola main island, usually called simply “Novasola” or “the Mainland”, Kosatka Island in the northeast, and the Francis Islands to the south.
The ecology and history of Novasola is incredibly diverse, unique,
and exciting, and this is especially true of its satellite islands. The Francis
Islands are home to numerous organisms and ecosystems found nowhere else on the
planet, and they have a rich history.
Though East and West Francis Islands are the largest, best
known, and most culturally important of the “Francis Islands”, the term actually refers to an entire archipelago off the coast of the Tower
Peninsula and the Weeping Wall. The Francis Island Archipelago extends east and
west almost to the mouths of Fairweather and Charlotte Sounds and consists
chiefly of the two large islands, East and West Francis, as well as twelve
smaller islands and up to 100 even smaller islands, most of which are too small
or too close to other larger islands to be considered distinct. For example,
much of East Francis’ southwest coast is composed of wetland and river delta
ecosystems that can account for up to forty islands, though they are only
delineated on the most detailed of maps. The archipelago can be subdivided into
eastern and western clusters. The eastern cluster includes East Francis Island,
Turtletop Island, Il Pino Island, Yawaychee or the Whale Mouth Islands
(Sandbar, Heath, and Spiretop Islands), Kidakaya Island, and Kanoox Island. The
western cluster includes West Francis Island, Tempesta Island, Isle La Porta,
Isle Verde, Rock Island, and Puffin Island. The water between the two clusters
is often called Francis Strait.
The largest settlement on the Francis Islands is Chester
Bay, located on East Francis’ northwest point. According to the 2020 census,
Chester Bay has a population of about 18,400 permanent residents, and about
1,200 permanent residents across the Francis Islands outside Chester Bay. However,
the archipelago is a popular tourist destination and, accounting for temporary
or daily visitors, its total population may double, and even triple during the
summer months. The north coast of East Francis Island is a popular wine area,
and the rest of the islands offer many outdoor activities like fishing, hiking,
camping, sailing, and whale-watching, to name a few. Wildlife photographers and
birders come to the islands for their spectacular marine life and coastal
ecosystems. Most of the islands in the archipelago are uninhabited and
protected as wildlife preserves, state parks, and national seashore, but there
has been a recent push by activists to consolidate them into one Francis
Islands National Park.
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| Map with scale bar and labels. All pictures provided by the Museum of Novasola. |
The Francis Islands were formed by the same geological processes
that formed the Paramounts, an upheaval caused by the collision of the Novasola
and Alaska tectonic plates, and could be considered extensions of the Tower
mountains. The archipelago sits atop the Novasola-Alaska fault line, which is
now mostly inactive. Nevertheless, occasional activity along the fault can
result in volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which, combined with the rest of the Pacific Ring of
Fire, make the Francis Islands prone to tsunamis. Yawaychee, or the Whale Mouth
Islands, is a series of three islands forming a sort of ring in the far north
of the archipelago. They are so named because indigenous peoples thought the
ring of peaks looked like the mouth of a great baleen whale as it surfaced. The
islands, which look somewhat like a massive atoll, are actually an ancient
caldera, the remnants of a large volcano that erupted during the early
Pleistocene epoch.
The two Francis Islands are the second and third largest
islands in the state (excluding the main island of Novasola) behind only
Kosatka Island. West Francis, located 39 kilometers from the mainland, is 85 km
long and 66 km wide with a total land area of 2,876 square kilometers. East
Francis, located 43 kilometers from the mainland, is 182 km long and 87 km wide
with a total land area of 7,933 square kilometers, slightly larger than Wrangel Island in Russia and over twice the size of Long Island, New York. Both
islands are mountainous and steep. West Francis’ highest point is Mount Bodega
at 6,004 feet above sea level. East Francis is much taller, reaching 10,172 feet at Mount Heceta.
The Francis Islands have a warm-summer Mediterranean climate
characterized by warm, drier summers and cool, wet winters, overall comparable
to that of the coasts of Oregon and northern California. Warm ocean currents
originating from the equatorial Pacific flow eastward just south of the
archipelago which greatly contributes to the area’s warmth and humidity, and
like all of Novasola the islands face prevailing westerly winds. As air moving
northeast hits the mountains of East and West Francis Islands, it rises, cools,
and dumps moisture onto the windward facing slopes, resulting in seasonal
rainforests and wetlands. These forests are dominated by spruce, redcedar
and goldcedar, pacific hemlock, and Ciganak yew. East Francis’s northeast coast
is shielded from winds and rains by the mountains, and is thus more arid, dominated
by oak savannah and chaparral or scrubland ecosystems. Common trees of the area
include various oaks (including Francis Oak), Forster Pine, Novasola madrone,
and juniper. Other plants include silver-grass, manzanita, and sagebrush. In
this way, East Francis is more similar to areas around Novasola’s Fairweather
Sound than to the other islands in the archipelago. Most of the smaller islands
are dominated by mixed conifer forests of cedar, spruce, and pines.
Life on the Francis Islands is incredibly diverse and
unique, not only from Novasola but from each other island as well. The
archipelago supports a great number of endemic species, including thirteen
species of terrestrial vertebrates, a handful of plants and fungi, and numerous
invertebrates like snails and insects. The islands also host many subspecies
found nowhere else. Unfortunately, most of these species are threatened with
extinction, as is the case with island species across the globe, and many other
endemic organisms have already gone extinct. Islands are fragile ecosystems,
and the biggest threats to life on the Francis’s are habitat destruction and
competition with introduced species. Colonists have brought animals with them
to the islands like sheep, dogs, cats, and rats, which have wreaked havoc on
the islands’ natural systems. The archipelago’s relatively warm and shallow
waters have historically been subject to intense fishing and whaling, and
though whaling has since been banned, fishing vessels still crowd much of the
Francis Strait where permitted.
Below is a list of notable endemic species.
·
Francis Island Spotted Skunk (Spilogale
franciscus) - Found on the islands of East and West Francis, Tempesta.
Smaller than Novasola Spotted Skunk S. tosaii, slightly different coat
pattern.
·
Francis Island Fox (Vulpes insulates) – Found on
East and West Francis. Largest terrestrial mammal endemic to the Francis’s,
slightly smaller than a red fox, V. vulpes. Its relationship to other
members of the Vulpes genus is poorly understood. Now endangered, thanks
mostly to the introduction of cats which outcompete the foxes for rodents.
·
Francis Squirrel (Tamiasciurus franciscus) – Found on
East and West Francis, Tempesta, Turtletop, and Il Pino islands. Closely
related to other Novasola squirrels. Populations on East and West Francis may
constitute separate subspecies.
·
East Francis Mouse, West Francis Mouse (Peromyscus
hecetacus, P. bodegacea) – Found on East and West Francis, respectively.
Now endangered, nearly extinct, after the introduction of the deer mouse.
·
Amphibians – Three species of salamander and one species
of frog are endemic to the archipelago, found on East Francis, West Francis,
Tempesta, Turtletop, and Il Pino.
·
Reptiles – One species of lizard and one snake are
native to five islands in the western cluster, and another species of lizard
and snake are native to four eastern islands.
·
Plants – Francis Island Orchid, Francis Silver-grass, and Francis
Island Currant are among the most common of the twelve endemic plant species.
Native subspecies include Francis Oak (Quercus novasola franciscus),
Francis Pine (Pinus forsterii insulates), Francis Goldcedar (Callitropsis
occidentalis franciscus).
·
Birds – No species of birds are endemic to the archipelago,
however there are many unique subspecies. These include:
o
Francis Island Burnside Jay (Aphelonova mustax
franciscus) – Found on twelve islands, including West and East Francis.
Lower rate of melanic (black plumage) morphs than on mainland.
o
Francis Island Magpie (Pica novasola franciscus) –
East Francis. Smaller than mainland subspecies.
o
Francis Island Screech Owl (Megascops novasola
insulatus) – Found on all major islands. Differs from common subspecies
mainly in its less nocturnal habits.
o
Francis Island Turtle Dove (Streptopelia rosea
franciscus) – Found on East and West Francis, Tempesta, Il Pino. Larger and
spends more time on the ground than common subspecies.
o
Francis Island Short-tailed Sparrow (Ammospiza
brevicauda hecetus) – Found on all major islands. Darker coloration, larger
size.
o
Francis Island Reichwald’s Sparrow (Novaspiza
reichwaldii insulatus) – Found on all major islands. Differs from common
subspecies in amount of cream coloration on beast and belly.
o
West Francis Farr’s Emeraldine (Barbalaetus farrii
austellus) – West Francis. Builds different style nests, more in line with
Common Emeraldine nests. Behaves more like Common Emeraldine than other Farr’s
subspecies.
Even excluding endemics, the Francis Islands are renowned
for their wildlife. The archipelago hosts great numbers of seals, sea lions,
sea otters, and cetaceans. Whales and dolphins come to the shallow waters
between the islands to breed. These same waters are at times brimming with sea
life from sholes of fish, including salmon and herring, to sea plants, crustaceans
and other invertebrates, and plankton. Of all coastal waters around Novasola, only
Fairweather Sound beats the Francis Strait for sheer quantities of shellfish
like mussels and clams. The islands also serve as critical breeding areas for
many species of seabird. The smallest of the fourteen major islands, Puffin
Island, is a protected area for birds and marine life and a crucial breeding
colony for many seabirds including murres, guillemots, cormorants, and of
course helmeted puffins, and other species. Many other birds breed on the
island, including many of greater Novasola’s endemic species. Francis Strait
has recently seen many new regulations on commercial fishing, helping not just
fish and shellfish populations but the entire marine ecosystem begin to
rebound. Gray whales and orca are once again common in the strait, and salmon
and herring runs up Fairweather and Charlotte sounds have begun to grow, though
they are nowhere near their historical, pre-colonial norms.
There is a striking pattern in Novasolan biota that many
species, especially of birds, that breed in eastern Novasola also have
populations in the Twin River valley west of the divide. It was always commonly
accepted that these disjunct populations arrived in one location or the other
via Agdaka Pass north of the Tower peninsula, one of the larger lowland areas
separating the Paramounts and the easiest point of crossing the mountain
divide. Recent studies have shown, however, that it is also entirely likely
that many species spread from one area to the other by way of the Francis
Islands. Many species of birds have been observed moving across the divide by
flying to the Francis archipelago, hopping from one island to another, before
departing back to the Novasolan mainland on the other side. The shape of the
archipelago suits “island-hopping” well, as it forms a sort of crescent of
islands around the edge of the Tower mountains. This phenomenon would have been
even more pronounced during the ice ages when sea levels were lower.
Prehistoric life on the Francis Islands would also have been
distinctive. Fossils have been found on the two large islands from late
Pleistocene formations of dwarf mammoths and pygmy short-faced bears, both of
which are species unique to the Francis Islands and seemed to have suffered the
effects of island dwarfism. The Novasola Condor, which persists in the
archipelago in a small population today, is thought to be a remnant of the
Pleistocene which may have fed on the carcasses of megafauna like the mammoths
and bears.
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| "Mal di Mar" Oil painting by Shona Reed, Koonakaday artist, 2003 |
Just as the islands are culturally important to Novasola today, the Francis Islands have played a crucial role in indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of human habitation of the Francis Islands comes in the form of a stone axe dated to be around 12,000 years old, but archeological evidence from the mainland suggests humans could have made it to the islands at least 4,000 years before then. Human hunting is one of the leading theories to explain the extinction of many ice age mammals in the archipelago.
Many native cultures have inhabited and used the Francis Islands. It seems they were especially sought-after territory, as many tribes describe historical wars in the area, and it seems rights to use the islands have passed between dozens of cultural groups throughout the distant and more recent past. At the time of European colonization and first contact, the Francis Islands were likely home to five or six distinct native tribes. Unfortunately, most of those tribes were eradicated, purposefully or not, by European colonizers and disease.
In 1760, while exploring the Pacific for King Charles III of Spain, Italian explorer Francisco Primo Ricci discovered the landmass of what we now call Novasola, or rather, he became the first European to discover it. During this voyage he and his crew sailed around the island, mapping its coastline and making landfall occasionally to restock. It was Ricci who gave Novasola its name, more or less, and it is also him whom the Francis Islands are named. Many other place names in the archipelago also trace their names to that voyage, including most of the islands and major landmarks. Francisco Ricci's ship made its first Novasola landfall on West Francis Island, at a place now called Discovery Point. Here was also the first time Europeans came into contact with the indigenous peoples of Novasola. Though the interaction was civil and diplomatic by all accounts, it set the stage for the tragedies of the future. At the time of European colonization and first contact, the Francis Islands were likely home to five or six distinct native tribes. Unfortunately, most of those tribes were eradicated, purposefully or not, by European colonizers and disease. By the late 1800s only the Koonakaday tribe could be found on the islands in one small village. Koonakaday is a bastardized anglicanization of their name, çunakadeitk’waan, which in their language means “People of the Great Sea Lion” (çunakadeit, meaning great sea lion, is the most common indigenous name for the island of East Francis). They were eventually forcefully relocated to the Gallquayan Reservation on Novasola’s east coast to make room for white farmers. During the 19th century the islands were centers of the whaling industry, and in the 20th century the Novasola Research Corp explored the islands as part of their 1902 expedition. Later, during World War Two, a military base was built on East Francis which still functions today. Today the indigenous population is proportionally lower in the Francis Islands than any other region of Novasola, despite being ancestral homelands to many groups. The Koonakaday tribe is the smallest native Novasolan tribe by population recognized by the state and federal governments.
Not all is a total loss, however. In recent years there have been several surges in activism across the state to preserve, protect, and repair the damages done to Novasola's systems and cultures. Just as environmental activists have pushed for more regulations to preserve and protect Franciscan species and ecosystems, others have funded research programs and breeding and reintroduction programs. Indigenous activists have called for reparations to native tribes, and many people have called for more Koonakaday involvement in Franciscan politics and governance. Some Koonakaday tribal members have even begun to move back to the islands, just as the endemic species of plants and animals are starting to rebound. Though this is only a start, many activists are hopeful we are beginning to see a return to a more unique and historical Francis Islands.