A cold, storm-battered northern sea between Russia and Alaska, holding some of the richest fisheries on Earth.
Area
2,000,000 km²
Ocean basin
Pacific
Location
The rich, icy sea of the far north Pacific
Average depth
about 1,640 m
Maximum depth
about 4,773 m
Salinity
~31–33 ppt
Temperature
Cold, −1°C to 10°C
Region
Between Russia & Alaska
About the Bering Sea
The Bering Sea lies between Siberia and Alaska, linked to the Arctic Ocean through the narrow Bering Strait. Its cold, nutrient-rich waters support enormous populations of fish, crabs, seabirds, seals and whales, and some of the most dangerous commercial fishing in the world. Thousands of years ago, falling sea levels exposed a land bridge here that humans used to reach the Americas.
Did you know?
During the last Ice Age it was dry land — the “Bering land bridge” that let the first people walk from Asia into the Americas.
Highlights
- One of the richest fisheries on Earth
- Site of the ancient Bering land bridge
- Cold, stormy and ice-covered in winter
Photo gallery
Life in the Bering Sea
Creatures, seabirds and marine plants — including some of the rarest and strangest — that live in these waters.
Creatures of the deep
Giant Pacific octopus
The largest octopus on Earth — a shape-shifting, colour-changing cold-water giant.
Orca (killer whale)
The ocean’s top predator: a brilliant, family-living dolphin found in every sea.
Blue whale
The largest animal ever to live — longer than three buses and heavier than 25 elephants.
Sea otter
A tool-using kelp-forest keystone that cracks shellfish on a stone balanced on its belly.
Humpback whale
An acrobatic baleen whale famed for breaching clear of the water and singing haunting songs.
Lion’s mane jellyfish
The largest known jellyfish, trailing a mane of tentacles that can stretch over 30 m.
Seabirds
Arctic tern
The migration champion, flying pole to pole and back — the longest journey of any animal.
Marine plants & algae
Giant kelp
The fastest-growing seaweed on Earth, building towering underwater forests up to 45 m tall.
Bull kelp
A tough cold-water kelp with a gas-filled float and long, whip-like fronds.
Surface & deep in the Bering Sea
The sea is warm where the Sun reaches it and cold far below. Flip between the sunlit surface and the deep water to feel the difference — these are typical figures for a sea.
Sunlit surface
22°C
typical surface temperature
Seas warm strongly at the surface in summer, but their deeper water stays cold and still — the sunlight simply never reaches it.
Recorded range for the Bering Sea: Cold, −1°C to 10°C