About Sea of Okhotsk, facts and maps

The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the world’s richest 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).

Sea of Okhotsk, Russian Okhotskoye More, or Ochotskoje More, northwestern arm of the Pacific Ocean, bounded on the west and north by the east coast of Asia from Cape Lazarev to the mouth of the Penzhina River, on the east and southeast by the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, on the south by the northern coast .

The Sea of Okhotsk is at the same latitude as the Gulf of Alaska, but unlike the Gulf, the sea freezes between October and March. Fresh water from rivers like the Amur dilutes the relatively shallow, salty sea and raises the temperature at which ice can form.

The Okhotsk Subprefecture is located in the northeastern part of Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido. The area faces the Sea of Okhotsk that is part of the Pacific Ocean. Besides East Hokkaido, the Sea of Okhotsk has shoreline with mainland Russia, Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin and Kuril islands.

What language is Okhotsk?

The Okhotsk are one of the ancestral components of the Ainu people and probably contributed the Ainu languages and significant cultural elements.

Abstract. The enclave of international waters in the central Sea of Okhotsk, called the “peanut hole,” is surrounded by the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) of the Russian Federation.

What animals live in the Sea of Okhotsk?

Life in the Okhotsk includes fish such as capelin, cod, flounder, herring, pollack and salmon. Crayfish, sea mussels, sea urchins, polyps, and shrimp are found alongside the Golden king crab, Steller’s sea lion, Northern fur seal, Dall’s porpoise, Orcas, and Ribbon seals.

What fish are in the Sea of Okhotsk?

The major fisheries in the eastern Okhotsk Sea are for walleye pollock, flatfish, halibut, and Pacific cod. Walleye pollock accounts for the largest portion of the total catch, with an assessed biomass being 74% of the total fish biomass, averaged for 1999-2001.

What is the Okhotsk water current?

Oyashio (親潮, “Parental Tide”), also known as Oya Siwo, Okhotsk or the Kurile current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean.

Which country surrounds most of the Sea of Okhotsk?

More than 95% of the coast of the Sea lies within Russian territory, with Hokkaido Island (Japan) accounting for the remainder.

What ocean is the Sea of Okhotsk in?

Sea of Okhotsk, Arm of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Bounded by the Siberian coast, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, and Sakhalin Island, it covers 611,000 sq mi (1,580,000 sq km). It connects the ports of the Russian Far East.

What is surrounded by the Sea of Okhotsk?

These waters off the four northern islands constitute the southern side of a highly enclosed sea surrounded by the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and Hokkaido.

Who owns the Sea of Okhotsk?

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.

Why is the Sea of Okhotsk important?

The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the most biologically productive of the world’s seas. The river drainage, the intense intermingling of waters by straits and wind, and the upwelling of deep, nutrient-laden ocean waters are all favourable to marine life.