The Kings of St. Paul

By Ryan Bassham
Photos by Matt McCormick

Almost 300 miles off the coast of Alaska, a 40-square mile volcanic island void of trees and vegetation sits in the middle of the Bering Sea. St. Paul Island, the largest of the Pribilof Islands, is one of the most unforgiving places a waterfowler could hope to visit in pursuit of North America’s holy grail of duck hunting. Somateria spectabilis. The King Eider.