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{{Short description|Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean}}
{{Coord|54|16|07|N|148|33|26|E|type:waterbody|display=title}}
{{Infobox sea
| name = Sea of Okhotsk
| image = Sea of Ochotsk 151.75790E 53.57880N.jpg
| caption = Sea of Okhotsk
| image_bathymetry = Sea of Okhotsk map with state labels.png
| caption_bathymetry = Map of the Sea of Okhotsk
| location = ] and ]
| coords = {{Coord|55|N|150|E|type:waterbody_scale:10000000_region:XP|display=inline,title}}
| type = ]
| inflow =
| outflow =
| catchment =
| basin_countries = ] and ]
| length =
| width =
| area = {{convert|1583000|km2|sqmi|-2|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|859|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|3372|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| volume =
| reference =
}}


The '''Sea of Okhotsk'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|Охотское море|Okhotskoye more|ɐˈxotskəjə ˈmorʲe|links=yes}}; Historically also known as {{Langx|ru|Ламутское море|Lamutskoye more|label=none}}, or as {{Langx|ru|Камчатское море|Kamchatskoye more|label=none}}; {{langx|ja|オホーツク海|Ohōtsuku-kai}})}} is a ] of the western ].<ref name="LiuAtkinson2009">{{cite book|author1=Kon-Kee Liu|author2=Larry Atkinson|title=Carbon and Nutrient Fluxes in Continental Margins: A Global Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpfrKj4G3EUC&pg=PA331|access-date=29 November 2010|date=June 2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-540-92734-1|pages=331–333}}</ref> It is located between ]'s ] on the east, the ] on the southeast, ]'s island of ] on the south, the island of ] along the west, and a stretch of eastern ]n coast along the west and north. Its northeast corner is the ]. The sea is named for the port of ], itself named for the ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Everett-Heath|first=John|title=Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2020|edition=6th|isbn=9780191905636|entry=Okhotsk, Sea of (Okhotskoye More)|entry-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191905636.001.0001/acref-9780191905636-e-5493|entry-url-access=subscription}}</ref>
]

The '''Sea of Okhotsk''' ({{lang-ru|Охо́тское мо́ре}}; ]: ''Okhotskoye More'') is a part of the western ], lying between the ] on the east, the ] on the southeast, the ] of ] to the far south, the island of ] along the west, and a long stretch of eastern ]n coast (including the ]) along the west and north. The northeast corner is ]. It is named after ], the first ]n settlement in the ].


==Geography== ==Geography==
] on the Sea of Okhotsk coast of ], ]]] ]
]
The Sea of Okhotsk covers an area of {{convert|1,583,000|km2}}, with a mean depth of {{convert|859|m}} and a maximum depth of {{convert|3372|m}}. It is connected to the ] on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the ] and the ]; on the south through the ].


In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is impeded by ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sea-of-Okhotsk|title=Sea of Okhotsk - Economic aspects|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref> Ice floes form due to the large amount of freshwater from the ], lowering the ] of upper levels, often raising the ] of the sea surface. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Watanabe|first1=Tatsuro|last2=Ikeda|first2=Motoyoshi|last3=Wakatsuchi|first3=Masaaki|date=2004|title=Thermohaline effects of the seasonal sea ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans|language=en|volume=109|issue=C9|doi=10.1029/2003JC001905|bibcode=2004JGRC..109.9S02W|issn=2156-2202|doi-access=free}}</ref>
The Sea of Okhotsk covers 611,000 sq.mi. (1,583,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), with a mean depth of 2,818 feet (859 metres). Its maximum depth is 11,063 feet (3,372 metres). It is connected to the ] on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the ] and the ]; on the south, through the ].


Cold air from Siberia forms sea ice in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk. As the ice forms, it expels salt into the deeper layers. This heavy water flows east toward the Pacific, carrying oxygen and nutrients, supporting abundant sea life. The Sea of Okhotsk has warmed in some places by as much as 3°C (5.4°F) since preindustrial times, three times faster than the global mean. Warming inhibits the formation of sea ice and also drives fish populations north. The ] catch on the northern Japanese coast has fallen 70% in the last 15 years, while the Russian ] catch has quadrupled.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/world/climate-environment/climate-change-japan-pacific-sea-salmon-ice-loss/|title=How climate change is triggering a chain reaction that threatens the heart of the Pacific|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-11-14}}. Print 15nov19, pp A1, A12, A13.</ref>
In ], navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk becomes difficult, or even impossible, due to the formation of large ]s, because the large amount of freshwater from the ] lowers the ] and raises the ] of the sea. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures.
]


With the exception of ], one of the ]ese ], the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. For this reason, it is generally considered as being under Russian sovereignty. With the exception of ], one of the Japanese ], the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. South ] and the ] were administered by Japan until 1945. Japan claims the southern Kuril Islands and refers to them as ].<ref name="elleman">Bruce A. Elleman, Michael R. Nichols and Matthew J. Ouimet, ''A Historical Reevaluation of America's Role in the Kuril Islands Dispute'', Pacific Affairs, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1998–1999), pp. 489–504</ref>
{{also|Sea of Okhotsk Coast}}
<gallery mode="packed" style="text-align: center;" caption="Gallery" heights="130px" perrow="3">
File:Freezing the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. Magadan.jpg|] near ], Russia
File:Shiretoko National Park.jpg|] on the ] of ], Japan
</gallery>


===Extent=== ===Extent===
The ] defines the limits of the Sea of Okhotsk as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf|title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition|date=1953|publisher=International Hydrographic Organization|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> The ] defines the limits of the Sea of Okhotsk as follows:<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf |title=Limits of Oceans and Seas |journal=Nature |edition=3rd |year=1953 |publisher= ] |volume=172 |issue=4376 |access-date=15 June 2020 |pages=32–33 |bibcode=1953Natur.172R.484. |doi=10.1038/172484b0 |s2cid=36029611 }}</ref>

<blockquote>
''On the Southwest.'' The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea ] (Sôya Kaikyô). A line joining ] and Nishi Notoro Misaki (45°55'N). From Cape Tuik (51°45'N) to Cape Sushcheva]. {{Blockquote|text=::''On the Southwest.'' The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea ] (Sôya Kaikyô). A line joining ] and Nishi Notoro Misaki (45°55'N). From Cape Tuik (51°45'N) to Cape Sushcheva].}}

<p>''On the Southeast.'' A line running from ] (Cape Noshap, 43°23'N) in the Islanad of ] (Yezo) through the ] or Tisima Islands to ] (South point of ]) in such a way that all the narrow waters between Hokusyû and Kamchatka are included in the Sea of Okhotsk.
{{Blockquote|text=::''On the Southeast.'' A line running from ] (Cape Noshap, 43°23'N) in the Island of ] (Yezo) through the ] or Tisima Islands to ] (South point of ]) in such a way that all the narrow waters between Hokusyû and Kamchatka are included in the Sea of Okhotsk.}}
</blockquote>


==Islands== ==Islands==
Some of the Islands limiting the Sea of Okhotsk from the south, like Hokkaidō and Sakhalin, are very large. Practically all islands in the Okhotsk Sea are either coastal islands or they belong to the ] island chain. ] is the only island in the Sea of Okhotsk that is located in the open sea. The majority of the islands in the Okhotsk Sea are uninhabited, being an ideal breeding ground for seals and seabirds. Some of the Sea of Okhotsk's islands are quite large, including Japan's second-largest island, Hokkaido, as well as Russia's largest island, Sakhalin. Practically all of the sea's islands are either in coastal waters or belong to the various islands making up the Kuril Islands chain. These fall either under undisputed Japanese or Russian ownership or disputed ownership between Japan and Russia. ] is the only island located in open waters and belongs to the ] of the ].

The majority of the sea's islands are uninhabited, making them ideal breeding grounds for ], ], ], and other sea island fauna. Large colonies of ]s use the Sea of Okhotsk as a nesting site.


==History== ==History==
] ] Sea"), had been well mapped by 1792, apart from ].]]


===Pre-modern===
The Russian explorers ] and ] were the first Europeans to visit the Sea of Okhotsk (and, probably, the island of ]<ref>{{citation|first=John J. |last=Stephan|publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1971
The ] and the later ], a coastal fishing and hunter-gatherer people, were located around the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as in northern Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kamuimintara.net/detail.php?rskey=21198707t01 |title=ウェブマガジン カムイミンタラ ～北海道の風土・文化誌 ：オホーツク文化人とモヨロ貝塚 網走 流氷とともにやってきた古代民族の謎とロマンに魅せられた父子三代と研究者たち |trans-title="Web Magazine Kamuy Mintara ~Hokkaido's Climate and Culture Magazine: Okhotsk Culture and Moyoro Shell Mounds Abashiri Three generations of fathers and sons and researchers fascinated by the mystery and romance of ancient peoples who came along with the drift ice". |website=kamuimintara.net |access-date=2019-07-10}}</ref>
|title=Sakhalin: a history|page=11|url= http://books.google.com/books?ei=KJ0GS66DF5OElQSCtNjwCQ}}</ref>) in the 1640s.
The Dutch captain ] in the ''Breskens'' entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the south-east in 1643, and charted parts of the Sakhalin coast and Kurile Islands, but failed to realize that either Sakhalin or Hokkaido are islands.


===European exploration and settlement===
The first and foremost Russian settlement on the shore was the port of ], which relinquished commercial supremacy to ] in the 1840s. The ] all but monopolized the commercial navigation of the sea in the first half of the 19th century.
Russian explorers ] (1639) and ] (1645) were the first Europeans to visit the Sea of Okhotsk,<ref name=ushakov>{{ill|Pavel Ushakov (hydrobiologist)|lt=Pavel Ushakov|ru|Ушаков, Павел Владимирович}}, ''Sea of Okhotsk'', In: ''Морской сборник'', Issue 1, 1940, </ref> and probably the island of Sakhalin in the 1640s.<ref>{{citation|first=John J. |last=Stephan|publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1971
|title=Sakhalin: a history|page=11}}</ref> The Dutch captain ] in the ''Breskens'' entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the south-east in 1643, and charted parts of the Sakhalin coast and Kuril Islands, but failed to realize that either Sakhalin or Hokkaido are islands. During this period, the sea was sometimes known as the '''Sea of Kamchatka'''.<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |editor-last=Smellie |editor-first=William |editor-link=William Smellie |display-editors=0 |contribution=] |title=] |edition=1st |volume=II |date=1771 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=] }}.</ref>


The first and foremost Russian settlement on the shore was the port of ], which relinquished commercial supremacy to ] in the 1840s. The ] all but monopolized the commercial navigation of the sea in the first half of the 19th century.
The ] under ] systematically mapped the entire coast of the sea, starting in 1733. ] and ] were the first non-Russian European navigators known to have passed through these waters other than Maarten Gerritsz Vries. ] explored the eastern coast of the Sakhalin in 1805. ] and ] determined that the Sakhalin was indeed an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. The first detailed summary of the ] of the sea was prepared and published by ] in 1894.


The ] under ] systematically mapped the entire coast of the sea, starting in 1733. ] and ] were the first non-Russian European navigators known to have passed through these waters other than Vries. ] explored the eastern coast of Sakhalin in 1805. ] and ] determined that Sakhalin was indeed an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. The first detailed summary of the ] of the Sea of Okhotsk was prepared and published by ] in 1894.
During the ], the Sea of Okhotsk was the scene of several successful ] operations (including ]) to tap ] undersea communications cables. These operations were documented in the book '']''. The sea (and surrounding area) were also the scene of the ] attack on ] in 1983. The ] used the Sea as a ballistic missile submarine ], a strategy that ] continues.


===Fishing===
In the ], the sea has no traditional Japanese name despite its close location to the Japanese territories and is called ''Ohōtsuku-kai'' (オホーツク海), which is a transcription of the Russian name. Additionally, ], the part of Hokkaidō which faces the sea, is often called the {{nihongo|Okhotsk region|オホーツク地方|Ohōtsuku-chihō}}, named after the sea.
The Sea of Okhotsk is rich in biological resources, with various kinds of fish, shellfish and crabs.


The harsh conditions of crab fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk is the subject of the most famous novel of the Japanese writer ], ] (1929).
The Sea of Okhotsk was a hotbed for ] in the mid-19th century. Beginning in the 1840s, American whaleships began hunting ]s in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk near the Kurile Islands. Following poor catches in the early 1850s, whaleships began shifting their attention to the stock of ]s in the Sea of Okhotsk. In 1854 alone some 160 whaleships visited the region; the following year more than 130 ships. The next year, 1856, nearly 150 ships sailed to the Okhotsk. By 1857, the number of ships had declined to a little over 100. With declining catches from 1858 to 1860 the fleet shifted its focus back to the Bering Sea region.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bockstoce |first=John |title=Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic |year=1986 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=0-295-97447-8 }}</ref> Many of the ships converged on the Shantar Islands, anchoring within the archipelago's many sheltered bays. Eighty ships were reported anchored there within sight of the ''Lexington'' of ] on July 28, 1854. Only five were boiling blubber into oil. A few days later a reported one hundred whaleboats were about chasing whales. Ships continued to hunt whales in the Sea of Okhotsk until the early 20th century.


==== The Peanut Hole ====
==Oil reserves==
{{Main|Peanut Hole}}
Twenty-nine zones of possible oil and gas accumulation have been identified on the Sea of Okhotsk shelf which runs along the coast. Total reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel, including 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas.<ref> from '']'', Russia's Daily Online. Retrieved 22 January 2007.</ref>
The Peanut Hole (named for its shape) was an area of open ocean at the center of the Sea of Okhotsk, about {{Convert|55|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}} wide and {{Convert|480|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}} long, that was surrounded by Russia's ] (EEZ). Since the Peanut Hole was not in the Russian EEZ, any country could fish there, and some began doing so in large numbers in 1991, catching perhaps as much as one million metric tons of ] in 1992. This was seen by the Russian Federation as presenting a danger to Russian fish stocks, since the fish ] of the Peanut Hole from the Russian EEZ.

The Russian Federation petitioned the United Nations to declare the Peanut Hole to be part of Russia's ]. In November 2013, a United Nations subcommittee accepted the Russian argument, and in March 2014 the full United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled in favor of the Russian Federation.

===Whaling===
]s were first caught in 1847, and dominated the catch between 1852 and the late 1860s.<ref name=Vaughan1984>Vaughan, R. (1984). "Historical survey of the European whaling industry". In ''Arctic Whaling: Proceedings of the International Symposium'', pp. 121-145. University of Groningen.</ref> Between 1850 and 1853 the majority of the fleet went to the ] region to hunt bowheads, but intense competition, poor ice conditions, and declining catches forced the fleet back to the Sea of Okhotsk. From 1854 to 1856, an average of over 160 vessels cruised in the sea each year. As catches declined between 1858 and 1860 the fleet shifted back to the Bering Strait region.<ref name=Bockstoce1986>{{cite book |last=Bockstoce |first=John |title=Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic |url=https://archive.org/details/whalesicemenhist0000bock |url-access=registration |year=1986 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=0-295-97447-8 }}</ref>

The Russian ] program reportedly sources some of its animals from the Sea of Okhotsk.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jabr |first=Ferris |date=2024-01-04 |title=The Whale Who Went AWOL |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/magazine/hvaldimir-whale.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

===Modern===
South Sakhalin was administered by Japan as ] from 1907 to 1949. The Kuril Islands were Japanese from 1855 and 1875 till the end of ] in 1945. Afterward, the ] occupied the territory.

During the ], the Sea of Okhotsk was the scene of several successful ] operations (including ]) to tap ] undersea communications cables. These operations were documented in the 1998 book '']''. The sea (and surrounding area) were also the scene of the ] attack on ] in 1983. The ] used the sea as a ballistic missile submarine ],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Acharya|first=Amitav|jstor=25797972|title=The United States Versus the USSR in the Pacific: Trends in the Military Balance |journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia|publisher=]|volume=9|issue=4|date=March 1988|page=293|issn=1793-284X}}</ref> a strategy that Russia continues.

Despite its proximity to Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk has no native etymology in the ]; its name, ''{{lang|ja-latn|Ohōtsuku-kai}}'' (''{{lang|ja|オホーツク海|italic=no}}''), is a transcription of the Russian name. This is also reflected in the name of Hokkaidō's ], which faces the Sea of Okhotsk and is also known as the {{nihongo|Okhotsk region|オホーツク地方|Ohōtsuku-chihō}}.

==Oil and gas exploration==
Twenty-nine zones of possible oil and gas accumulation have been identified on the Sea of Okhotsk shelf, which runs along the coast. Total reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel, including 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.com/p-52/r_396/Magadan_Region/|title=Magadan Region|publisher=], Russia's Daily Online|access-date=January 22, 2007|archive-date=October 25, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025044008/http://www.kommersant.com/p-52/r_396/Magadan_Region/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 18 December 2011, the Russian oil drilling rig '']''<ref> ''www.amngr.ru''</ref><ref>{{cite web
| work = Rigzone
| title = Rig Data: Kolskaya
| url = http://www.rigzone.com/data/rig_detail.asp?rig_id=521
| accessdate = 2011-12-19
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120103132847/http://www.rigzone.com/data/rig_detail.asp?rig_id=521
| archive-date = 2012-01-03
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> capsized and sank in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, some {{cvt|124|km}} from Sakhalin island, where it was being towed from ]. Reportedly, its pumps failed, causing it to take on water and sink. The platform carried 67 people, of which 14 were rescued by the ] and the tugboat ''Natftogaz-55''. The platform was subcontracted to a company working for the Russian energy giant ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/18/world/asia/russia-oil-rig/index.html?hpt=hp_t3|title=Russian oil rig sinks, leaving many missing|publisher=]|date=December 18, 2011|access-date=December 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=113452&hmpn=1 |title=Kolskaya Sinks Offshore Russia|publisher=Rigzone|access-date=August 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.shipwrecklog.com/log/2011/12/rig-kolskaya-lost/|title=Blog Archive » Rig Kolskaya Lost|publisher=Shipwreck Log|date=December 18, 2011|access-date=August 13, 2012}}</ref>


==Notable seaports== ==Notable seaports==
* ], Magadan, Russia; population: 95,000
], ]]]
* ], Kamchatka, Russia; population: 3,000
*], ], ]
* ], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000
*], ], ]
*], ], ] * ], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 25,000
* ], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000
*], ], ]

*], ], ]
==See also==
{{Portal|Russia|Japan}}
* ]
* ]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
*
{{NIE Poster|Okhotsk, Sea of|Sea of Okhotsk}}
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207151113/http://www.unep.org/dewa/giwa/areas/reports/r30/regional_definition_giwa_r30.pdf |date=2012-02-07 }}


{{Sea of Okhotsk Islands}} {{Sea of Okhotsk Islands}}
{{List of seas}} {{List of seas}}
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 15:25, 25 December 2024

Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean
Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
Map of the Sea of Okhotsk
LocationNorth Asia and East Asia
Coordinates55°N 150°E / 55°N 150°E / 55; 150
TypeSea
Basin countriesJapan and Russia
Surface area1,583,000 km (611,200 sq mi)
Average depth859 m (2,818 ft)
Max. depth3,372 m (11,063 ft)

The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north. Its northeast corner is the Shelikhov Gulf. The sea is named for the port of Okhotsk, itself named for the Okhota River.

Geography

Sea of Okhotsk full map
Sea of Okhotsk seasons winter and summer

The Sea of Okhotsk covers an area of 1,583,000 square kilometres (611,000 sq mi), with a mean depth of 859 metres (2,818 ft) and a maximum depth of 3,372 metres (11,063 ft). It is connected to the Sea of Japan on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary; on the south through the La Pérouse Strait.

In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is impeded by ice floes. Ice floes form due to the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River, lowering the salinity of upper levels, often raising the freezing point of the sea surface. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures.

Cold air from Siberia forms sea ice in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk. As the ice forms, it expels salt into the deeper layers. This heavy water flows east toward the Pacific, carrying oxygen and nutrients, supporting abundant sea life. The Sea of Okhotsk has warmed in some places by as much as 3°C (5.4°F) since preindustrial times, three times faster than the global mean. Warming inhibits the formation of sea ice and also drives fish populations north. The salmon catch on the northern Japanese coast has fallen 70% in the last 15 years, while the Russian chum salmon catch has quadrupled.

With the exception of Hokkaido, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were administered by Japan until 1945. Japan claims the southern Kuril Islands and refers to them as Northern Territories.

See also: Sea of Okhotsk Coast

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Okhotsk as follows:

::On the Southwest. The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea .

::On the Southeast. A line running from Nosyappu Saki (Cape Noshap, 43°23'N) in the Island of Hokusyû (Yezo) through the Kuril or Tisima Islands to Cape Lopatka (South point of Kamchatka) in such a way that all the narrow waters between Hokusyû and Kamchatka are included in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Islands

Some of the Sea of Okhotsk's islands are quite large, including Japan's second-largest island, Hokkaido, as well as Russia's largest island, Sakhalin. Practically all of the sea's islands are either in coastal waters or belong to the various islands making up the Kuril Islands chain. These fall either under undisputed Japanese or Russian ownership or disputed ownership between Japan and Russia. Iony Island is the only island located in open waters and belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation.

The majority of the sea's islands are uninhabited, making them ideal breeding grounds for seals, sea lions, seabirds, and other sea island fauna. Large colonies of crested auklets use the Sea of Okhotsk as a nesting site.

History

Most of the Sea of Okhotsk, labelled here as the Ocho Tzkisches Meer or Tungusisches Meer ("Tungusic Sea"), had been well mapped by 1792, apart from Sakhalin.

Pre-modern

The Okhotsk culture and the later Ainu people, a coastal fishing and hunter-gatherer people, were located around the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as in northern Japan.

European exploration and settlement

Russian explorers Vassili Poyarkov (1639) and Ivan Moskvitin (1645) were the first Europeans to visit the Sea of Okhotsk, and probably the island of Sakhalin in the 1640s. The Dutch captain Maarten Gerritsz Vries in the Breskens entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the south-east in 1643, and charted parts of the Sakhalin coast and Kuril Islands, but failed to realize that either Sakhalin or Hokkaido are islands. During this period, the sea was sometimes known as the Sea of Kamchatka.

The first and foremost Russian settlement on the shore was the port of Okhotsk, which relinquished commercial supremacy to Ayan in the 1840s. The Russian-American Company all but monopolized the commercial navigation of the sea in the first half of the 19th century.

The Second Kamchatka Expedition under Vitus Bering systematically mapped the entire coast of the sea, starting in 1733. Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse and William Robert Broughton were the first non-Russian European navigators known to have passed through these waters other than Vries. Ivan Krusenstern explored the eastern coast of Sakhalin in 1805. Mamiya Rinzō and Gennady Nevelskoy determined that Sakhalin was indeed an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. The first detailed summary of the hydrology of the Sea of Okhotsk was prepared and published by Stepan Makarov in 1894.

Fishing

The Sea of Okhotsk is rich in biological resources, with various kinds of fish, shellfish and crabs.

The harsh conditions of crab fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk is the subject of the most famous novel of the Japanese writer Takiji Kobayashi, The Crab Cannery Ship (1929).

The Peanut Hole

Main article: Peanut Hole

The Peanut Hole (named for its shape) was an area of open ocean at the center of the Sea of Okhotsk, about 55 km (30 mi) wide and 480 km (300 mi) long, that was surrounded by Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Since the Peanut Hole was not in the Russian EEZ, any country could fish there, and some began doing so in large numbers in 1991, catching perhaps as much as one million metric tons of pollock in 1992. This was seen by the Russian Federation as presenting a danger to Russian fish stocks, since the fish move in and out of the Peanut Hole from the Russian EEZ.

The Russian Federation petitioned the United Nations to declare the Peanut Hole to be part of Russia's continental shelf. In November 2013, a United Nations subcommittee accepted the Russian argument, and in March 2014 the full United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled in favor of the Russian Federation.

Whaling

Bowhead whales were first caught in 1847, and dominated the catch between 1852 and the late 1860s. Between 1850 and 1853 the majority of the fleet went to the Bering Strait region to hunt bowheads, but intense competition, poor ice conditions, and declining catches forced the fleet back to the Sea of Okhotsk. From 1854 to 1856, an average of over 160 vessels cruised in the sea each year. As catches declined between 1858 and 1860 the fleet shifted back to the Bering Strait region.

The Russian military marine mammal program reportedly sources some of its animals from the Sea of Okhotsk.

Modern

South Sakhalin was administered by Japan as Karafuto Prefecture from 1907 to 1949. The Kuril Islands were Japanese from 1855 and 1875 till the end of World War II in 1945. Afterward, the Soviet Union occupied the territory.

During the Cold War, the Sea of Okhotsk was the scene of several successful U.S. Navy operations (including Operation Ivy Bells) to tap Soviet Navy undersea communications cables. These operations were documented in the 1998 book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. The sea (and surrounding area) were also the scene of the Soviet attack on Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983. The Soviet Pacific Fleet used the sea as a ballistic missile submarine bastion, a strategy that Russia continues.

Despite its proximity to Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk has no native etymology in the Japanese language; its name, Ohōtsuku-kai (オホーツク海), is a transcription of the Russian name. This is also reflected in the name of Hokkaidō's Okhotsk Subprefecture, which faces the Sea of Okhotsk and is also known as the Okhotsk region (オホーツク地方, Ohōtsuku-chihō).

Oil and gas exploration

Twenty-nine zones of possible oil and gas accumulation have been identified on the Sea of Okhotsk shelf, which runs along the coast. Total reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel, including 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas.

On 18 December 2011, the Russian oil drilling rig Kolskaya capsized and sank in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, some 124 km (77 mi) from Sakhalin island, where it was being towed from Kamchatka. Reportedly, its pumps failed, causing it to take on water and sink. The platform carried 67 people, of which 14 were rescued by the Magadan and the tugboat Natftogaz-55. The platform was subcontracted to a company working for the Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Notable seaports

  • Magadan, Magadan, Russia; population: 95,000
  • Palana, Kamchatka, Russia; population: 3,000
  • Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000
  • Monbetsu, Hokkaido, Japan; population: 25,000
  • Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Russian: Охотское море, romanized: Okhotskoye more, IPA: [ɐˈxotskəjə ˈmorʲe]; Historically also known as Ламутское море, Lamutskoye more, or as Камчатское море, Kamchatskoye more; Japanese: オホーツク海, romanized: Ohōtsuku-kai)

References

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  8. "ウェブマガジン カムイミンタラ ～北海道の風土・文化誌 ：オホーツク文化人とモヨロ貝塚 網走 流氷とともにやってきた古代民族の謎とロマンに魅せられた父子三代と研究者たち" ["Web Magazine Kamuy Mintara ~Hokkaido's Climate and Culture Magazine: Okhotsk Culture and Moyoro Shell Mounds Abashiri Three generations of fathers and sons and researchers fascinated by the mystery and romance of ancient peoples who came along with the drift ice".]. kamuimintara.net. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
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  11. "Plate LXXXVII. Fig. 2. World.", Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. II (1st ed.), Edinburgh: Colin Macfarquhar, 1771.
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  15. Acharya, Amitav (March 1988). "The United States Versus the USSR in the Pacific: Trends in the Military Balance". Contemporary Southeast Asia. 9 (4). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: 293. ISSN 1793-284X. JSTOR 25797972.
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  17. Technical details of the rig www.amngr.ru
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  21. "Blog Archive » Rig Kolskaya Lost". Shipwreck Log. December 18, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2012.

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