Map of the Chukchi Sea.

Chukchi Sea (Russian: Чуко́тское мо́ре) 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 and on the Chukotka Peninsula. The Chukchi traditionally engaged in fishing, whaling and the hunting of walrus in this cold sea.

In Alaska the rivers flowing into the Chukchi Sea are the Kivalina, the Kobuk, the Kokolik, the Kukpowruk, the Kukpuk, the Noatak, the Utukok, the Pitmegea and the Wulik, among others. Concerning the rivers that flow into the Chukchi Sea on its Siberian side, the Pegtymel, the Amguyema and the Chantalveergyn are the most important.

The Chukchi sea has very few islands compared to other seas of the Arctic. A small number of islands lie along the Siberian coast.

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, the 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 Vega was released, she passed the Bering Strait and steamed towards the Pacific Ocean.

In 1933, the steamer Chelyuskin sailed from Murmansk, east bound to attempt a transit of the Northern Sea Route to the Pacific, in order to demonstrate that such a transit could be achieved in one season. The vessel became beset in heavy ice in the Chukchi Sea, and after drifting with the ice for over two months, was crushed and sank on 13 February 1934 near Kolyuchin Island. Apart from one fatality, her entire complement of 104 people was able to establish a camp on the sea ice. The Soviet government organised an impressive aerial evacuation, under which all were rescued. Captain Vladimir Voronin and expedition leader Otto Schmidt became heroes.

Following several unsuccessful attempts, the wreck was located on the bed of the Chukchi Sea by a Russian expedition, Chelyuskin-70, in mid-September 2006. Two small components of the ship's superstructure were recovered by divers and were sent to the ship's builders, Burmeister and Wein of Copenhagen, for identification.

References

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Further reading

Coordinates: 69°41′19″N, 171°27′19″W

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