A cold, drift-ice sea walled off from the Pacific by the Kuril Islands, and one of the most productive fishing grounds on Earth.
Area
1,583,000 km²
Ocean basin
Pacific
Location
The ice-making sea of the north-west Pacific
Average depth
about 850 m
Maximum depth
about 3,370 m
Salinity
~33 ppt
Temperature
Very cold, −1.8°C to 12°C
Region
Between Russia, Kamchatka & Japan
About the Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk lies between the Russian mainland, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the long arc of the Kuril Islands. Each winter it manufactures vast fields of drift ice, and its cold, nutrient-rich upwelling makes it one of the richest fisheries in the world — full of salmon, crab and pollock. Sea otters, orcas and Steller sea lions all patrol its shores.
Did you know?
It is the southernmost sea in the Northern Hemisphere to freeze over, growing a fresh sheet of drift ice every single winter.
Highlights
- Freezes with drift ice every winter
- One of the richest fisheries on Earth
- Ringed by the volcanic Kuril Islands
Photo gallery
Life in the Sea of Okhotsk
Creatures, seabirds and marine plants — including some of the rarest and strangest — that live in these waters.
Creatures of the deep
Sea otter
A tool-using kelp-forest keystone that cracks shellfish on a stone balanced on its belly.
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.
Lion’s mane jellyfish
The largest known jellyfish, trailing a mane of tentacles that can stretch over 30 m.
Seabirds
Great cormorant
An expert diving seabird that perches with wings spread wide to dry its feathers.
Marine plants & algae
Giant kelp
The fastest-growing seaweed on Earth, building towering underwater forests up to 45 m tall.
Surface & deep in the Sea of Okhotsk
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 Sea of Okhotsk: Very cold, −1.8°C to 12°C