Sea of Okhotsk facts for kids

Map of the Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast (including the Shantar Islands) along the west and north. The northeast corner is Shelikhov Gulf. It is named after Okhotsk, the first Russian town in the Far East.

Geography

Shiretoko National Park on the Sea of Okhotsk coast of Hokkaido, Japan

The Sea of Okhotsk covers 611,000 sq.mi. (1,583,000 km²). The average depth is 2,818 feet (859 metres). Its maximum depth is 11,063 feet (3,372 metres). It is connected to the Sea of Japan on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary; on the south, through the La Pérouse Strait.

In winter, travelling on the Sea of Okhotsk becomes difficult, or even impossible, due tolarge ice floes.

Except for Hokkaidō, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is surrounded on all sides by land of the Russian Federation. For this reason, it is generally said to be part of Russia.

Islands

Some of the Sea of Okhotsk's islands are quite large. These include Japan's second largest island, Hokkaidō, as well as Russia's largest island, Sakhalin. Iony Island is the only island in open waters. It belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation. Most of the sea's islands are have no people making them ideal breeding grounds for seals, sea lions, seabirds, and other sea island fauna.

Notable seaports

Nagayevo Bay near Magadan, Russia

• Abashiri, Hokkaidō, Japan
• Magadan, Magadan, Russia
• Monbetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan
• Palana, Kamchatka, Russia
• Wakkanai, Hokkaidō, Japan

Images for kids

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  Depths

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  Most of the Sea of Okhotsk, with the exception of the Sakhalin Island, had been well mapped by 1792