For several decades, environmentalists around the world have been sounding the alarm. Environmental pollution is at a frantic pace. Because of this, conditions change in many natural zones, which leads to a reduction in the population of animals and plants. Many species disappear altogether. Some regions are the most unfavorable, while others are still in relative safety.
One of the environmental problems is now considered pollution of the oceans and seas. The most unfavorable in this regard is the Pacific Ocean and its waters. The coast of Russia is washed by three seas in this region. One of them is the Sea of Okhotsk. Its environmental problems are not so acute, and until recently it was considered quite clean. But every year the situation worsens there.
Characteristic of the Sea of Okhotsk
This pond is washed by the shores of Russia and Japan. It is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands and the island of Hokkaido. But it is still not considered an inland sea, although it communicates with ocean water only through the straits. The Sea of Okhotsk is one of the deepest in Russia: its maximum depth reaches almost 4 kilometers. The area of the reservoir is also large - more than one and a half thousand square kilometers. The entire northern part of the sea is covered with ice for more than six months, which complicates fishing activities and transport links. In the southeast, off the coast of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk hardly freezes and its waters are richer in fish and vegetation. The features of this reservoir also include the fact that its coast is heavily indented and has many bays. Some regions are unfavorable in seismic terms, which causes a large number of storms and even tsunamis. Three large rivers - the Amur, Okhota and Kukhtuy - flow into the Sea of Okhotsk. Its environmental problems are also associated with those places through which they flow.
Resources of this region
The Sea of Okhotsk is not very rich in fish due to its temperature regime. But still fishing there is quite developed. The resources of the Sea of Okhotsk and the environmental problems of the region are closely related. Indeed, it is precisely because of fishing vessels and oil production that the biosystem is suffering. Valuable sea fish are caught in the region: saffron cod, pollack, herring, and flounder. There are many different salmon - chum, pink salmon, coho salmon and others. In addition, there is found a very popular sea crab in many countries, there are squid and sea urchins. There are marine mammals in the Sea of Okhotsk: seals, seals, fur seals and whales. Red and brown algae are common, which are also a valuable fishing resource. Deposits of oil and gas, as well as some rare metals, were found in the shelf zone of the reservoir.
Ecological problems of the Sea of Okhotsk
It is difficult to characterize them briefly, because this region is experiencing many difficulties. They talked about them at the end of the 20th century, but so far the problems have only worsened. Apart from the coast of the Far East, Kamchatka and Sakhalin, the Sea of Okhotsk is rarely considered. The environmental problems of this region can be distinguished as follows:
- pollution by oil products from various water vehicles and during oil production and refining;
- coastal waters are polluted from coastal settlements by human waste;
- Three large and several small rivers flow into the sea. They also bear traces of the industrial activity of people in their waters. And from the rivers flowing in Kamchatka, a large amount of organic substances and phenols from peat bogs located on the peninsula gets into the sea;
- any sea vessels are environmentally unfavorable for sea water and its inhabitants. In addition to fuel processing products and team waste dumped into the sea, the ecology of the biosystem is disturbed by noise, magnetic and electric fields;
- poaching is another problem of the Sea of Okhotsk. Fish-valuable species of fish and marine animals are mercilessly destroyed for the purpose of profit.
Oil pollution
Compared to other seas, this pond was previously considered relatively safe in environmental terms. After all, there is no serious industrial production on the coast, mineral raw materials are not extracted. But in recent years, the environmental problems of the Sea of Okhotsk have become more acute precisely because of oil pollution. This occurs from an increase in the number of ships dumping fuel processing products into the sea, fuels and lubricants are washed off by storm and melt waters from coastal warehouses and ports.
Indeed, shipping on the Sea of Okhotsk is growing every year, because it is the only way for the mainland to connect with the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island and Kamchatka. In addition, the risk of pollution in this region has increased due to the development of oil and gas fields. The features that the Sea of Okhotsk possesses also affect the problem. Environmental problems are exacerbated by the presence of currents, large ebbs and flows, as well as severe storms and tsunamis. All this leads to the fact that petroleum products spread over long distances and poison all living organisms.
Animal and plant world
The environmental problems of the Sea of Okhotsk are mainly related to the fact that some species of fish and marine animals are disappearing. Particularly affected are whales and seals, which were almost exterminated. Therefore, it is very important to combat poaching and immoderate capture. The stock of valuable species of commercial fish, especially salmon, has also decreased significantly. Due to this and due to pollution of sea water with oil products, their commercial value has become much lower. Adverse environmental conditions also affect the amount of algae that are harvested for various household needs.
