DECEITS

About

DECEITS takes its name from Cape Deceit, a geographic landmark located in Alaska's Seward Peninsula on the Chukchi Sea coast. The cape extends into Kotzebue Sound, situated approximately two miles northwest of Deering in the Kotzebue-Kobuk Low region. The distinctive name originates from 1816, when Lieutenant Otto von Kotzebue bestowed it upon the location. Kotzebue chose the name "Deceit" as a translation of the German word Betrug because he observed something deceptive about the cape's shape and surrounding landscape, which appeared to indicate the presence of a bay that did not actually exist. The geographic feature left such an impression that it became the namesake for the Eastern Beringian vole, scientifically designated as Microtus deceitensis, which was named in honor of Cape Deceit.