Editing Sea of Okhotsk

{{Short description|Marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean}}
{{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           = [[North Asia]] and [[East Asia]]
| coords             = {{Coord|55|N|150|E|type:waterbody_scale:10000000_region:XP|display=inline,title}}
| type               = [[Sea]]
| inflow             = 
| outflow            = 
| catchment          = 
| basin_countries    = [[Japan]] and [[Russia]]
| 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 [[marginal sea]] of the western [[Pacific Ocean]].<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 [[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 [[Siberia]]n 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]].<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>

==Geography==
[[File:Sea-of-Okhotsk-Full-Map-Hokkaido-Kuril-Kamchatka-Sakhalin.png|thumb|300px|Sea of Okhotsk full map]]
[[File:Sea of Okhotsk Season Winter Summer 2008.jpg|thumb|Sea of Okhotsk seasons winter and summer]]
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 [[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]].<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 [[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.<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>

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.<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>

With the exception of [[Hokkaido]], one of the Japanese [[Japanese Archipelago|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 [[Kuril islands dispute|Northern Territories]].<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|[[Nagayevo Bay]] near [[Magadan]], Russia
File:Shiretoko National Park.jpg|[[Shiretoko National Park]] on the [[Sea of Okhotsk coast]] of [[Hokkaido]], Japan
</gallery>

===Extent===
The [[International Hydrographic Organization]] 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= [[International Hydrographic Organization]] |volume=172 |issue=4376 |access-date=15 June 2020 |pages=32–33 |bibcode=1953Natur.172R.484. |doi=10.1038/172484b0 |s2cid=36029611 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=::''On the Southwest.'' The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea [In [[La Pérouse Strait|La Perouse Strait]] (Sôya Kaikyô). A line joining [[Cape Sōya|Sôni Misaki]] and Nishi Notoro Misaki (45°55'N). From Cape Tuik (51°45'N) to Cape Sushcheva].}}

{{Blockquote|text=::''On the Southeast.'' A line running from [[Cape Nosappu|Nosyappu Saki]] (Cape Noshap, 43°23'N) in the Island of [[Hokkaido|Hokusyû]] (Yezo) through the [[Kuril Islands|Kuril]] or Tisima Islands to [[Cape Lopatka]] (South point of [[Kamchatka Peninsula|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 (such as the [[Shantar Islands]]) 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 [[Pinniped|seals]], [[sea lions]], [[seabirds]], and other sea island fauna. Large colonies of [[crested auklet]]s use the Sea of Okhotsk as a nesting site.

==History==
[[File:Generalkarte Russisches Reich 1792 2.jpg|thumb|Most of the Sea of Okhotsk, labelled here as the Ocho Tzkisches Meer or Tungusisches Meer ("[[Tungusic peoples|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.<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>

===European exploration and settlement===
Russian explorers [[Vassili Poyarkov]] (1639) and [[Ivan Moskvitin]] (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, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AnZAAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA69 pp.69-92]</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 [[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'''.<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |editor-last=Smellie |editor-first=William |editor-link=William Smellie |display-editors=0 |contribution=[[:File:EB1 Plate LXXXVII Fig. 2 World.png|Plate LXXXVII. Fig. 2. World.]] |title=[[:s:EB1|Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=1st |volume=II |date=1771 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[Colin Macfarquhar]] }}.</ref>

The first and foremost Russian settlement on the shore was the port of [[Okhotsk]], which relinquished commercial supremacy to [[Ayan, Russia|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 La Pérouse|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]], [[Kani Kōsen|''The Crab Cannery Ship'']] (1929).

==== The Peanut Hole ====
{{Main|Peanut Hole}}
The Peanut Hole (named for its shape) is 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, surrounded by Russia's [[exclusive economic zone]] (EEZ). Since the Peanut Hole is 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 [[straddling stock|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 whale]]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 [[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.<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 [[military marine mammal]] 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 [[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 [[United States Navy|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 Anti-Air Defense|Soviet]] attack on [[Korean Air Flight 007|Korean Air Lines Flight 007]] in 1983. The [[Soviet Pacific Fleet]] used the sea as a ballistic missile submarine [[bastion (naval)|bastion]],<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=[[Institute of Southeast Asian Studies]]|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 [[Japanese language]]; 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 Hokkaido's [[Okhotsk Subprefecture]], 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=[[Kommersant]], 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 ''[[Kolskaya (jack-up rig)|Kolskaya]]''<ref>[http://www.amngr.ru/index.php/en/services/fleet/kolskaya Technical details of the rig] ''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 [[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 (icebreaker)|''Magadan'']] and the tugboat ''Natftogaz-55''. The platform was subcontracted to a company working for the Russian energy giant [[Gazprom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://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=[[CNN]]|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==
* [[Magadan]], Magadan, Russia; population: 95,000
* [[Palana, Russia|Palana]], Kamchatka, Russia; population: 3,000
* [[Abashiri]], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000
* [[Monbetsu, Hokkaido|Monbetsu]], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 25,000
* [[Wakkanai]], Hokkaido, Japan; population: 38,000

==See also==
{{Portal|Russia|Japan}}
* [[100 Soundscapes of Japan]]
* [[History of fur trade by Sea of Okhotsk]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

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

==External links==
{{NIE Poster|Okhotsk, Sea of|Sea of Okhotsk}}
* [http://www.unep.org/dewa/giwa/areas/reports/r30/regional_definition_giwa_r30.pdf Overview of Okhotsk region (PDF)] {{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}}
{{List of seas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sea of Okhotsk| ]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Kamchatka Krai]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Khabarovsk Krai]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Magadan Oblast]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Sakhalin Oblast]]
[[Category:Geography of Hokkaido]]
[[Category:Geography of Northeast Asia]]
[[Category:Geography of the Russian Far East]]
[[Category:Marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean|Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Pacific Coast of Russia]]
[[Category:Seas of Asia|Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Seas of Japan|Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Seas of Russia|Okhotsk]]
[[Category:Temperate Northern Pacific]]