Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk is a part of the western Pacific Ocean, lies between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Sakhalin along the west, the island of Hokkaido to the far south, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and northShelikhov Gulf is the northeast corner

Naming: The Sea is named after Okhotsk, the first Russian settlement in the Far East

Geography

Sea of Japan connects the Sea of Okhotsk on either side of Sakhalin; on the south, by the La P�rouse Strait; on the west by the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary;

The Sea of Okhotsk covers 611,000 sq.mi(1,583,000 km2), and its mean depth is about 2,818 feet (859 metres)Its maximum depth is 11,063 feet (3,372 metres)

Climate

Navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is difficult or even impossible during winter; it is due to the formation of large ice floesThe formation of ice floes is because of the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River lowers the salinity and so the freezing point of the sea is raisedThe circulation and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors such as the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures

Except the Hokkaido, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is bounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian FederationFor this reason, it is generally considered as being under Russian control

Islands

Hokkaido and Sakhalin are the very large islands limiting the Sea of Okhotsk from the southThe only island in the Sea of Okhotsk that is located in the open sea is Ion IslandThe majority of the islands in the Okhotsk Sea are ideal breeding ground for seals and seabirds, but uninhabited

Resources

Twenty-nine zones of oil and gas accumulation have been found on the Sea of Okhotsk shelf which runs along the coastTotal reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel, it includes 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas

List of Seas in Pacific Ocean

Major ports and harbours in Pacific Ocean