Shelikhova Bay (Kamchatka Region, Russia) is located between the Asian coast and the base of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Belongs to the Sea of Okhotsk.
Hydronym
The bay owes its name to the researcher and navigator Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. He organized several trading companies, including in Kamchatka. Grigory Ivanovich mastered new lands for the Russian Empire, was the initiator of the Russian-American company. Now it becomes immediately clear in honor of whom the Shelikhov Bay is named - in honor of the “Russian Columbus”.
Bay Characteristic
The coordinates of Shelikhov Bay are as follows - 60 ° 00 'north latitude and 158 ° 00' east longitude. Its length is 650 km, the prevailing depth is 50-150 m, and the maximum reaches 350 m. But the width varies within 300 km, at the entrance it decreases to 130 km. From December to May, the water area is icebound. The population in the bay area is about 1000 people.
Bay Features
Shelikhov Bay has a division into the so-called lips, that is, sea bays that fall far into the land. So, its northern part is divided into the Gizhiginsky Bay and Penzhinsky Bay, which are separated from each other by the Taigonos Peninsula. On the southern part of the bay is located a relatively small archipelago - the Yamskiy Islands. It consists of five land areas with a predominant rocky topography.
Due to the greatest declination of the Moon to the Earth’s surface, irregular semidiurnal fluctuations in the water level are observed in the bay in this area. At the same time, tidal waves often reach a maximum height in the Penzhinskaya Bay (14 m). Rivers such as Gizhiga, Malkachan, Yama, Penzhina feed the gulf, while the latter flows back during tides.
Penzhinskaya lip
In the east, the Penzhinskaya Bay is characterized by steep slopes that consist of clay or marl shales with brown coal implants. Its dimensions reach a length of 300 km, and a width of about 65 km. The depths in this area reach more than 60 m. In the south, gneiss and granite are the predominant rocks.
Unlike Gizhiginskaya Bay, Penzhinskaya is covered with ice for several months. The Penzhina River flows into it. The tides in these places are special, semidiurnal and irregular. If we take into account the entire basin of the Pacific Ocean, it is in the Penzhinskaya Bay that they reach their maximum value.
Gizhiginskaya lip
Gizhiginskaya Bay is the inner part of the bay, into which the Gizhiga River flows. This water area is under ice for a significant part of the year. In length, it occupies almost 150 km. The width of the lip is quite large and is about 260 km. In some places, the bottom moves away from the water surface by more than 85 m.
Animal world
Shelikhov Bay is extremely rich in fish resources, which contributes to the good development of fishing. Among the representatives of this species of fauna, herring, halibut, Far Eastern navaga, flounder, smelt stand out. Some individuals of the salmon family are also common.
Due to the depth reaching 350 m in some places, the bay is characterized by a diversity of ichthyofauna (plankton and zooplankton), which is fish food.
Other inhabitants of this water area are a variety of arthropods, among which Kamchatka crab, mussels, sea urchins, and nutritious mollusks stand out.
Representatives of birds, for whom fish is the main food, did not pass by Shelikhova Bay. The cliffs towering on its shores have become a habitat for birds. Countless bird markets are located on them.
