Bering Sea
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The '''Bering''' (or '''Imarpik''') '''Sea''' is a body of water above, and separted from, the north Pacific Ocean by the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands. Covering over two million square kilometers (''775,000 sq. miles''), it is bordered on the east and northeast by Alaska, on the west by Russia's Siberia and Kamchatka Peninsula, on the south by the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands and on the far north by the Bering Strait which separates the Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea. It is named for the first white discoverer to sail its waters, the Denmark|Danish navigator Vitus Bering.
During the most recent ice age, the sea level was thought to be low enough to allow humans and other animals to migration|migrate from Asia to North America on foot across what is now the Bering Strait, located on the northern side of the sea. This is commonly referred to as the "Bering land bridge" and is believed by some scholars (in dispute by others) to be the first entry of humans into the Americas.
The http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/is one of the world's richest fisheries, and landings from Alaskan waters represents half the U.S. catch of fish and shellfish. Because of the http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/detect 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 http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/bering_status_overview.htmlwith http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/quick_data_summary.html
Islands of the Bering Sea include:
Pribilof Islands
Bering Island
See also
Bering Sea Arbitration
Bristol Bay
Alaska Peninsula
External links
http://www.beringclimate.noaa.gov/Comprehensive resource includes maps, photos, essays on key Bering Sea issues, organizations, ecosystem information, and viewable data with narratives on trends and ecosystem relevance.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/np/
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