Chukchi Sea

Map of the Chukchi Sea.

Chukchi Sea (Template:Lang-ru) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, between Chukotka and Alaska. The Bering Strait connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is bounded on one side by Wrangel Island on the west and the Beaufort Sea to the east. The principal port on the sea is Uelen.

The International Date Line crosses the Chukchi Sea from NW to SE. It is displaced eastwards to avoid Wrangel island as well as the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug on the Russian mainland.

Geography

Satellite photo of the Bering Strait

The sea has an approximate area of 595,000 km² (230,000 mi²) and is only navigable about four months of the year. Depths less than 50 m (164 ft) occupy 56% of the total area.

The sea is named after the Chukchi people, who reside on its shores.

Among the rivers that flow into the Chukchi Sea, the Pegtymel River and the Chantalveergyn River are the most important.

History

On September 28th 1878, during Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's expedition that made the whole length of the Northeast passage for the first time in history, steamship "Vega" got stuck in fast ice in the Chukchi Sea. Since further progress for that year was impossible, the ship was secured in winter quarters. Even so the members of the expedition and the crew were aware that only a few miles of ice-blocked sea lay between them and the open waters. The following year, two days after the "Vega" was released, she passed the Bering Strait and steamed towards the Pacific Ocean.

In September 1933 Soviet ice-breaker Cheliuskin got crushed by pack ice in the Chukchi Sea near Kolyuchin Island. The passengers and crew were rescued by air in a dramatic and much publicised operation which made heroes of Captain Vladimir Voronin and expedition leader Otto Schmidt.

References

• Albert Hastings Markham. Arctic Exploration, 1895

• Armstrong, T., The Russians in the Arctic, London, 1958.

• Early Soviet Exploration: http://www.whoi.edu/beaufortgyre/history/history_soviet.html

• History of Russian Arctic Exploration: http://www.tour-land.ru/extr/north_p/eng/hist_ark.shtml

69°41′19″N 171°27′19″W