Atlasova Island

Atlasova is a small island that is made of just one gigantic volcano, called Alaid volcano island is named after Vladimir Atlasov, a 17th century Russian explorer who incorporated the nearby Kamchatka Peninsula into Russia. It is essentially the cone of a submerged volcano called Vulcan Alaid protruding above the Sea of Okhotsk.

Its near perfect shape gave rise to many legends about the volcano among the peoples of the region, such as the Itelmens and Kuril Ainu. The Russian scientist Stepan Krasheninnikov was told the story that it was once a mountain in Kamchatka, but the neighboring mountains became jealous of its beauty and exiled it to the sea, leaving behind lake Kurile in southern Kamchatka.