When you look at a map everything seems to be clear.The Sea of Okhotsk is surrounded on all sides by Russian territory either islands or Asian coast line.And only at the southwest end of the north we will see the Japanese island of Hokkaido.But what is obvious to a person is not always obvious to the international law, according to which, the Sea of Okhotsk has no legal status of the inland sea in Russia.Its waters due to the geographical features of the region, in full compliance with international law is the open sea, and any State may conduct fishing here, if this does not contradict the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
But, leaving the legal nuances of lawyers consider that represents the Sea of Okhotsk in the geographical and natural terms.Its area is just over one million six hundred thousand square kilometers, the maximum depth - almost four kilometers (3916 meters), the average depth - seven hundred and eighty-meter tysyacha.The coastline - almost ten and a half thousand kilometers, and the amount contained in the sea water - about one million three hundred sixty-five thousand cubic kilometers.The largest bays - the Bay of Shelikhov, Uda lip Taui Bay, Bay Academy and the Sakhalin Bay.From October to June, the northern part of the sea is not navigable, as covered by a solid layer of ice.
Although the Okhotsk Sea is located mostly in the temperate latitudes, the climate is its northern character.The average January temperature in the southern parts of the sea - from minus five to minus seven degrees, and in the north - to minus twenty four.South more uniform temperature throughout the water area and range from plus twelve in the north to the south, plus eighteen.
Sea of Okhotsk is a valuable region, where the replenishment of populations of many fish (especially salmon), so the laws of many countries expressly prohibit their nationals to carry out there fishing, despite the fact that according to international maritime law, they are entitled to do.In addition to fish in the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk many marine arthropods (the famous king crab), sea urchins, mussels and other shellfish.
In the north-east sea is Shelikhov Gulf.It is the largest bay of the Sea of Okhotsk.Its length is six hundred and fifty kilometers, the width of the passage that connects it to the sea - one hundred and thirty kilometers and a maximum width - three hundred kilometers.The depth of the Bay is small - no more than three hundred and fifty meters.Notable Gulf primarily to the fact that there has the highest tides (up to fourteen meters) in the Pacific Ocean.The height of the tide in the Gulf of Shelikhov quite a bit inferior to the height of the tide in the Bay of Fundy (up to fifteen or eighteen meters) in Atlantic Canada.
This gulf of the Okhotsk Sea is named in honor of the merchant GI Shelikhov.A native of Kursk province, moved from central Russia to the Far East, he organized not only fishing in the bay, which was later named after him, but the expedition to Alaska.He stands at the cradle of the Russian-American company, it was built in the Russian settlement on Kodiak Island, and began development of the Americas.
