American naturalists regard the big brown bears of Alaska as a distinct group. They range from Sitka to the extremity of the Alaskan Peninsula, over Kodiak Island, and inland.
In passing from the Sitkan district westward toward Kodiak and the Aleutians the climate becomes even more equable, the temperature a little lower and the rainfall somewhat less; 1 the fogs at first less dense, especially near Cook Inlet, where the climate is extremely local, but more and more persistent along the Aleutians.
There are black, grizzly and polar bears, and also two exclusively Alaskan species, the Kodiak and the glacier bear.
The red fox is widely distributed, and the white or Arctic fox is very common along the eastern coast of Bering Sea; a blue fox, once wild, is now domesticated on Kodiak and the Aleutians, and on the southern continental coast, and a black fox, very rare, occurs in south-eastern Alaska; the silver fox is very rare.
The western timber limit is on Kodiak Island.
There is a small government Indian reservation on Afognak Island, near Kodiak.
Kodiak was discovered in 1763 and a settlement effected in 1784.
The headquarters of the company were at Kodiak until 1805, and thereafter at Sitka.
Thereafter until 1867 it was the chief port and (succeeding Kodiak) the seat of government of Russian America; it is still the headquarters of the Assistant Orthodox Greek bishop of the United States.
Kodiak Alaska Dinner Cruises offers one-day wedding cruises for couples who do not want to include a longer length cruise to the event.