Bering Sea
The International Hydrographic Organization drew a line from Kabuch Point in the Alaskan Peninsula through the Aleutian Islands to Cape Kamchatka. This boundary encloses all narrow waters between Alaska and Kamchatka within the Bering Sea. A deep water basin rises through a narrow slope into shallower water above continental shelves. Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian navigator, sailed northward from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean in 1728. He became the first European to systematically explore this marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean.
Scientists believe that during the most recent ice age, sea levels dropped low enough for humans to migrate east on foot from Asia to North America. This route crossed what is now the Bering Strait, known as the Bering land bridge. Megafauna animals also migrated in both directions across this dry land connection. Most scientists accept this path as the first point of entry for humans into the Americas. Some researchers argue against this theory, but the consensus remains strong regarding the migration pattern.
Nutrient upwelling from cold waters of the Aleutian basin flows up the slope and mixes with shallower shelf waters. This process creates constant production of phytoplankton along the shelf break zone. Seasonal melting of sea ice triggers spring phytoplankton blooms by causing an influx of lower salinity water. The ice itself provides attachment substrate for algae growth within interstitial spaces. A massive bloom of low energy coccolithophorid phytoplankton occurred during warm summer conditions in 1997.
Commercial fisheries catch approximately one billion dollars worth of seafood annually on the U.S. side alone. Russian Bering Sea fisheries generate roughly six hundred million dollars each year. Landings from Alaskan waters represent half the total United States catch of fish and shellfish. Pacific cod, red king crab, snow crab, and sablefish form the backbone of these lucrative industries. Bristol Bay salmon seasons remain central to the regional economy and global markets.
Trends in carbon isotope ratios found in bowhead whale baleen samples suggest a thirty to forty percent decline in average seasonal primary productivity over fifty years. Warm water conditions in the summer of 1997 resulted in a shift toward less energy-rich phytoplankton species. The carrying capacity of the Bering Sea is now much lower than it has been in the past. Overexploitation by humans caused the extinction of Steller's sea cow and spectacled cormorant populations. Rats introduced to breeding islands led to the disappearance of the Bering Canada goose subspecies.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
Who drew the boundary line for the Bering Sea?
The International Hydrographic Organization drew a line from Kabuch Point in the Alaskan Peninsula through the Aleutian Islands to Cape Kamchatka. This boundary encloses all narrow waters between Alaska and Kamchatka within the Bering Sea.
When did Vitus Bering sail northward into the Arctic Ocean?
Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian navigator, sailed northward from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean in 1728. He became the first European to systematically explore this marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean.
How did humans migrate across the Bering Strait during the ice age?
Scientists believe that during the most recent ice age, sea levels dropped low enough for humans to migrate east on foot from Asia to North America. This route crossed what is now the Bering Strait, known as the Bering land bridge.
What seafood species form the backbone of commercial fisheries in the U.S. side of the Bering Sea?
Pacific cod, red king crab, snow crab, and sablefish form the backbone of these lucrative industries. Landings from Alaskan waters represent half the total United States catch of fish and shellfish.
Why has the carrying capacity of the Bering Sea declined over fifty years?
Trends in carbon isotope ratios found in bowhead whale baleen samples suggest a thirty to forty percent decline in average seasonal primary productivity over fifty years. The carrying capacity of the Bering Sea is now much lower than it has been in the past due to warm water conditions and human overexploitation.