Practically all of the sea's islands are either in coastal waters or belong to the various islands making up the Kuril Islands chain. Some of the Sea of Okhotsk's islands are quite large, including Japan's second largest island, Hokkaido, as well as Russia's largest island, Sakhalin. A line running from Nosyappu Saki (Cape Noshap, 43☂3'N) in the Island of Hokusyû (Yezo) through the Kuril or Tisima Islands to Cape Lopatka (South point of Kamchatka) in such a way that all the narrow waters between Hokusyû and Kamchatka are included in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Northeastern and Northern limits on the Japan Sea. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Okhotsk as follows: On the Southwest. Shiretoko National Park on the Sea of Okhotsk coast of Hokkaido, Japan Japan claims the southern Kuril islands and refers to them as " northern territories". South Sakhalin and the Kuril islands were administered by Japan until 1945. With the exception of Hokkaido, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. The salmon catch on the northern Japanese coast has fallen 70% in the last 15 years, while the Russian chum salmon catch has quadrupled. Warming inhibits the formation of sea ice and also drives fish populations north. The Sea of Okhotsk has warmed in some places by as much as 3 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times, three times faster than the global mean. This heavy water flows east toward the Pacific carrying oxygen and nutrients, supporting abundant sea life. As the ice forms it expels salt into the deeper layers. Ĭold air from Siberia forms sea ice in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures. Ice floes form due to the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River, lowering the salinity of upper levels, often raising the freezing point of the sea surface. In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is impeded by ice floes. It is connected to the Sea of Japan on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary on the south through the La Pérouse Strait.
The Sea of Okhotsk covers an area of 1,583,000 square kilometres (611,000 sq mi), with a mean depth of 859 metres (2,818 ft) and a maximum depth of 3,372 metres (11,063 ft).
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