Editing Peril Strait

{{Short description|Strait in the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2011}}
{{Coord|57|31|52|N|135|16|14|W|scale:500000|display=title}}

[[File:Peril Strait, Alaska, 1991.jpg|thumb|300px|A misty Peril Strait]]

'''Peril Strait''' or Shee Káx’ is a [[strait]] in the [[Alexander Archipelago]] in southeastern [[Alaska]]. It is between [[Chichagof Island]] to its north and [[Baranof Island]]<ref name=Higginson>{{cite book
 | last = Higginson
 | first = Ella
 | title = Alaska, The Great Country
 | publisher = [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan Co.]]
 | year = 1908
 | location = New York
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/alaskagreatcoun00higggoog/page/n208 150]
 | url = https://archive.org/details/alaskagreatcoun00higggoog
 | quote = peril strait deadman's reach.
 }}</ref> and [[Catherine Island (Alaska)|Catherine Island]] to its south. The strait is {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=on}} long and reaches from [[Salisbury Sound]] on the west to the [[Chatham Strait]] on the east.<ref name=Higginson/> It is entirely within the limits of the [[Sitka City and Borough, Alaska|City and Borough of Sitka]].
__NOTOC__

==Name==
Shee Káx’ comes from “Shee” which is the original name of Baranof Island.  Káx’ is “above”, a locative description.

The strait was named Proliv Pogibshy by Russians because of a fatal incident during a [[fur seal]] hunting expedition led by [[Alexander Andreyevich Baranov|Alexander Baranof]] in 1799. According to [[Yuri Lisianski|V. F. Lisianski]], Baranof employed Native [[Aleut people|Aleut]] hunters, ate [[Paralytic shellfish poisoning|poisonous]] [[shellfish]] from the strait, which resulted in approximately one hundred and fifty deaths.<ref name=Higginson/><ref name=Orth>{{cite book
 | last = Orth
 | first = Donald J.
 | title = Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, Geological Survey, Professional Paper 567
 | publisher = United States Government Printing Office
 | year = 1967
 | location = Washington
 }}</ref> Beyond the strait are the points Poison Cove and Deadman's Reach, also named for the incident. Peril Strait is the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] translation of Proliv Pogibshiy.<ref name=Orth/>

This name Haat xhishxhaak is actually used in reference to Sergius Narrows, as well as any area with rapids or whirlpools.  "Haat" is tide, rapids, whirlpool, back-eddy.

The name of Peril Strait is Shee Kax', "Shee" being the name of Baranof Island and kax' meaning "on top of".

Hoonah Sound is called Shee Kaax Yik (Up and Offset From Shee [Baranof Island]).

==Navigation==
On May 10, 2004, the AMHS vessel [[M/V LeConte|M/V ''LeConte'']] grounded on [[Cozian Reef]] in Peril Strait. There were no major injuries, and after an extensive [[Marine salvage|salvage]] process, the ''LeConte'' was escorted to [[Ketchikan, Alaska|Ketchikan]] for successful repairs. The cause of the grounding was determined to be operator error, not tidal currents.

The [[Fairway Island Light]], located on the eastern entrance to Peril Strait, was an important aid-to-navigation in the early 20th century.

==References==
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[[Category:Straits of Alaska]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Sitka, Alaska]]