Bering Sea

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Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
that comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
.

The Bering Sea is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Alaska Peninsula. It covers over two million square kilometers, bordered on the east and northeast by Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
, on the west by Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
's Siberia

Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
and Kamchatka Peninsula

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula is a 1,250-kilometer long peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of 472,300 km?. It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west....
, on the south by the Alaska Peninsula

Alaska Peninsula

The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands....
and the Aleutian Islands

Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming a volcanic arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying an area of 6,821 sq mi and extending about 1,200 mi westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula....
and on the far north by the Bering Strait

Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
, which separates the Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
's Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea

Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea....
.

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History

Most scientists believe that during the most recent ice age

Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
, sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is the average height of the sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface. Defining the reference level , however, involves complex measurement, and accurately determining MSL can prove difficult....
was low enough to allow human

Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
s and other animals to migrate on foot from Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
to North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
across what is now the Bering Strait

Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
. This is commonly referred to as the "Bering land bridge" and is believed by some—though not all— to be the first point of entry of humans into the Americas

Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
.

There is a small portion of the Kula Plate

Kula Plate

The Kula Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate under the northern Pacific Ocean south of the Near Islands segment of the Aleutian Islands. It is subduction under the North American Plate at the Aleutian Trench and is surrounded by the Pacific Plate....
in the Bering Sea. The Kula Plate is an ancient tectonic plate

Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading, understood during the 1960s....
that used to subduct

Subduction

In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundary by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge....
under Alaska during the Triassic

Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 to 199 annum . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic....
period.

Geography

Islands

Islands of the Bering Sea include:

Pribilof Islands
Pribilof Islands

The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands, part of the United States state of Alaska, lying in the Bering Sea, about 200 miles north of Unalaska, Alaska and 200 miles south of , the nearest point on the North American mainland....
Komandorski Islands, including Bering Island
Bering Island

Bering Island is located off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. At long by wide, it is the largest of the Commander Islands with the area of ....
St. Lawrence Island
St. Lawrence Island

St. Lawrence Island is located west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea, just south of the Bering Strait, at about 63?30' North 173?20' West. It is part of Alaska, but closer to Russia than to the Alaskan mainland....
Diomede Islands
Diomede Islands

The Diomede Islands , also known in Russia as Gvozdev Islands , consist of two rocky, tuya-like islands: the United States island of Little Diomede and the Russian island of Big Diomede , which is also known as Imaqliq, Inaliq, Nunarbuk or Ratmanov Island....
King Island
King Island, Alaska

King Island is an island in the Bering Sea, west of Alaska. It is about west of Cape Douglas and is south of Wales, Alaska.The island is about wide....
St. Matthew Island
St. Matthew Island

St. Matthew Island is an uninhabited island in the Bering Sea in Alaska, 295 km WNW of Nunivak Island. The island has a land area of 137.857 square mile , making it the List of islands of the United States by area....
Karaginsky Island
Karaginsky Island

Karaginsky Island or Karaginskiy Island is an island in the Karaginsky Gulf of the Bering Sea. The 40 km wide strait between the Kamchatka Peninsula and this island is called Litke Strait....

Regions

Regions of the Bering Sea include:

Bering Strait
Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57? to 59? North 157? to 162? West. It is located between the southwest part of the Alaska mainland to its north, and the Alaska Peninsula to its south and east....

The Bering Sea contains 16 submarine canyon

Submarine canyon

A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley on the sea floor of the continental slope. Many submarine canyons are found as extensions to large rivers; however there are many that have no such association....
s including the largest submarine canyon in the world, Zhemchug Canyon

Zhemchug Canyon

Zhemchug Canyon is a giant underwater canyon located in the middle of the Bering Sea. This submarine canyon is the largest canyon in the ocean....
.

Ecosystem

The Bering Sea shelf break

Continental shelf

Primary production

Primary production is the production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis, with chemosynthesis being much less important....
in the Bering Sea. This zone, where the shallower continental shelf

Continental shelf

North Aleutians Basin

The North Aleutians Basin is a geographic phenomenon, primarily a submarine depression , occurring in the southern Bristol Bay region of the Bering Sea and just off the northern shore of the Alaska Peninsula....
is also known as the “Greenbelt”. Nutrient upwelling from the cold waters of the Aleutian basin flowing up the slope and mixing with shallower waters of the shelf provide for constant production of phytoplankton.

The second driver of productivity in the Bering Sea is seasonal sea ice

Sea ice

Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about -1.8 ?Celsius .Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelf or glaciers that calve into the ocean....
that, in part, triggers the spring phytoplankton bloom. Seasonal melting of sea ice causes an influx of lower salinity water into the middle and other shelf areas, causing stratification and hydrographic effects which influence productivity. In addition to the hydrographic and productivity influence of melting sea ice, the ice itself also provides an attachment substrate for the growth of algae as well as interstitial ice algae. The productivity associated with sea ice is under threat as global warming

Global warming

Global warming is the increase in the Instrumental temperature record of the Earth's near-surface air and the oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation....
causes a reduction of sea ice in the Bering Sea.

Some evidence suggests that great changes to the Bering Sea ecosystem have already occurred. Warm water conditions in the summer of 1997 resulted in a massive bloom of low energy coccolithophorid

Coccolithophore

Coccolithophores are single-celled algae, protists and phytoplankton belonging to the division haptophytes. They are distinguished by special calcium carbonate plates of uncertain function called coccoliths , which are important Micropaleontology....
phytoplankton (Stockwell et al. 2001). A long record of carbon isotopes

Isotopic signature

An isotopic signature is a ratio of stable or unstable isotopes of particular elements found in an investigated material. The atomic mass of different isotopes affect their chemical kinetics behavior, leading to natural isotope separation processes....
, which is reflective of primary production trends of the Bering Sea, exists from historical samples of bowhead whale baleen

Baleen

Baleen or whalebone is the means by which baleen whales feed. These whales do not have teeth, but instead have rows of baleen plates in the upper jaw – flat, flexible plates with frayed edges, arranged in two Parallel rows, looking like combs of thick hair....
. Trends in carbon isotope ratios in whale baleen samples suggest that a 30-40% decline in average seasonal primary productivity has occurred over the last 50 years. The implication is that the carrying capacity

Carrying capacity

The supportable population of an organism, given the food, habitat, drinking water and other necessities available within an environment is known as the environment's carrying capacity for that organism....
of the Bering Sea is much lower now than it has been in the past.

Biodiversity

The Bering Sea is home to some of the world's most interesting wildlife. This sea supports many endangered whale species including Bowhead Whale

Bowhead Whale

The Bowhead Whale , also known as Greenland Right Whale or Arctic Whale, is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to 20 meters in length....
, Blue Whale

Blue Whale

The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At up to 32.9 metres in length and 172 metric tonnes or more in weight, it is the largest whale and the largest living animal and is believed to be the largest organism ever to have existed....
, Fin Whale

Fin Whale

The Fin Whale , also called the Finback Whale, Razorback, or Common Rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales....
, Sei Whale

Sei Whale

The Sei Whale , Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third largest rorqual after the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale. It can be found worldwide in all oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep off-shore waters....
, Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

The humpback whale is a Baleen whale whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms ....
, Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
and the rarest in the world, the North Pacific Right Whale

North Pacific Right Whale

The North Pacific Right Whale is a very large, robust baleen whale species that was common in the North Pacific until 1840, but now extremely rare due to 19th and 20th century whaling....
. Other marine mammals include walrus

Walrus

The walrus is a large pinniped marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere....
, Steller Sea Lion, Northern Fur Seal

Northern Fur Seal

The Northern Fur Seal, Callorhinus ursinus, is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily and the only species in the genus Callorhinus....
, Beluga, Orca

Orca

The Killer Whale or Orca , less commonly, Blackfish or Seawolf, is the largest species of the dolphin family. It is found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctica regions to warm, tropical seas....
and polar bear

Polar Bear

The polar bear is a bear native to the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. The world's largest carnivore found on land, and shares the title of largest land predator with the Kodiak Bear, an adult male weighs around , while an adult female is about half that size....
.

The Bering Sea is very important to the seabirds of the world. Over 30 species of seabirds and approximately 20 million individuals breed in the Bering Sea region. Seabird species include Tufted Puffin

Tufted Puffin

The Tufted Puffin is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk family found throughout the North Pacific Ocean.It is one of four species of puffin that comprise the Fratercula genus and is easily recognizable by its thick red bill and yellow tufts....
s, the endangered Short-tailed Albatross

Short-tailed Albatross

The Short-tailed Albatross or Steller's Albatross is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific. Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean....
, Spectacled Eider

Spectacled Eider

The Spectacled Eider is a large Merginae, which breeds on the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia.The lined nest is built on tundra close to the sea, and 5?9 eggs are laid....
, and Red-legged Kittiwake

Red-legged Kittiwake

The Red-legged Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in the Pribilof, Bogoslof and Buldir islands of the USA, and the Commander Islands, Russia....
s. Many of these species are unique to the area, which provides highly productive foraging habitat, particularly along the shelf edge and in other nutrient-rich upwelling regions, such as the Pribilof, Zhemchug

Zhemchug Canyon

Zhemchug Canyon is a giant underwater canyon located in the middle of the Bering Sea. This submarine canyon is the largest canyon in the ocean....
, and Pervenets canyons.

Two Bering Sea species, the Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's sea cow is an extinct, large sirenian mammal formerly found near the Asiatic coast of the Bering Sea. It was discovered in the Commander Islands in 1741 by the German naturalist Georg Steller, who was traveling with the explorer Vitus Bering....
(Hydrodamalis gigas) and Spectacled Cormorant

Spectacled Cormorant

The Spectacled Cormorant or Pallas's Cormorant is an Extinction marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabited Bering Island and possibly other places in the Komandorski Islands....
(Phalacrocorax perspicillatus), are extinct because of overexploitation by man. In addition, a small subspecies of Canada goose, the Bering Canada goose (Branta canadensis asiatica) is extinct due to overhunting and introduction of rats to their breeding islands.

The Bering Sea supports many species of fish. Some species of fish support large and valuable commercial fisheries. Commercial fish species include 6 species of Pacific Salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout,the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, this holds true for the Atlantic salmon....
, Alaska Pollock

Alaska pollock

Alaska pollock or walleye pollock is a North Pacific species of the cod family Gadidae. While related to the common Atlantic pollock species of the same family, the Alaska pollock is not a member of the same Pollachius genus....
, Red King Crab

Paralithodes camtschaticus

File:Kingcrabpile.jpgThe red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, is the most coveted of the commercially sold king crab species, and is the most expensive per unit weight....
, Pacific cod

Pacific Cod

The Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, is an important commercial food species. It is also known as gray cod, gray goo, gray wolf, grayest or grayfish....
, Pacific halibut

Pacific halibut

The Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, is a large flatfish found in the northern Pacific Ocean closely related to the Atlantic Halibut....
, Yellowfin Sole, Pacific ocean perch

Pacific ocean perch

The Pacific ocean perch has a wide distribution in the North Pacific from southern California around the Pacific rim to northern Honshu, Japan, including the Bering Sea....
and sablefish

Sablefish

The sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Anoplopoma genus....
.

Fish biodiversity is high, and at least 419 species of fish have been reported from the Bering Sea.

Bering Sea fisheries

The Bering Sea is a world renowned treasure for its enormously productive and profitable fisheries, such as King Crab

Alaskan king crab fishing

Alaskan king crab fishing is carried out during the winter months in the waters off the coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The commercial harvest is performed during a very short season, and the catch is shipped worldwide....
, opilio and tanner crabs, Bristol Bay salmon, pollock and other groundfish. These fisheries rely on the productivity of the Bering Sea via a complicated and little understood food web. The continued existence of these fisheries requires an intact, healthy, and productive ecosystem.

Commercial fishing is big business in the Bering Sea, which is relied upon by the largest seafood companies in the world to produce fish and shellfish. On the U.S. side, commercial fisheries catch approximately $1 billion worth of seafood annually, while Russian Bering Sea fisheries are worth approximately $600 million annually.

The Bering Sea also serves as the central location of the Alaskan king crab

King crab

King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a family of crab-like Decapoda crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their flesh, many species are widely caught and sold as food....
and Opilio crab

Chionoecetes

Chionoecetes is a genus of crabs that live in the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans .Other names for crabs in this genus include "queen crab" and "spider crab" - they are known by different names in different areas of the world....
seasons, which are chronicled on the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

The Discovery Channel is an United States satellite and cable TV channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications....
television program Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch

Deadliest Catch is a Documentary film television series produced by Original Productions of Burbank, California for the Discovery Channel that documents the events aboard Fishing vessel in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and Chionoecetes crab fishing seasons....
.

Links to Bering Sea data

The supports some of the world's richest fisheries, and landings from Alaskan waters represents half the U.S. catch of fish and shellfish. Because of the , future evolution of the Bering Sea climate/ecosystem is more uncertain. This is a symmetric problem: climate change impacts ecosystems, and ecosystems serve as indicators for climate change. Track the with near-realtime ecological and climatic indicators.

Bering Sea

History

Geography

Islands

Regions

Ecosystem

Biodiversity

Bering Sea fisheries

Links to Bering Sea data

See also

External links