Where is the Kunashir Strait? And it is located in the northern hemisphere. Refers to the Pacific Ocean. Geographically located in the Far East of the Russian Federation. Together with the Strait of Treason and the South Kuril, it forms the state maritime border between the Japanese island of Hokkaido in the south and the Russian island. Kunashir in the north, connects the Sea of Okhotsk and the Strait of Treason. See below for a photo showing the Kunashir Strait on a map of Russia.
Characteristic (briefly)
The length of the strait is about 75 km, the width varies from the south side about 20 km, but from the north about 43 km. Great depths are observed in this area. In some places they can reach the mark of 2500 meters. The Kunashir Strait is part of an important shipping corridor for the Russian Federation connecting the Sea of Okhotsk with the Pacific Ocean.
Neighbourhood
The following capes are located along the shores of the bay: Ivanovsky, Alekhina, Znamenka. Many small rivers flow from the islands into the strait. These are the watercourses Fast, Dark, Krivonozhka, Alekhina and others. In the area of the coastline, you can see stones rising from the water. NearThe bottom of the coast is quite dangerous. There are a lot of pitfalls here.
The Kunashir Strait can hardly be called inhabited. Functioning settlements are currently only present on the Japanese side. These are the villages of Shibetsu and Rausu. There are also small settlements on the island of Hokkaido. On the Russian coast of the strait, on the island of Kunashir, there is only a small village of Golovino. The population is very small, about 100 people.
Features of the Strait
The Kunashir Strait, like most of the water areas of the Kuril chain, is a flooded saddle between volcanic cones (islands). It is located in close proximity to the active Golovin volcano, which is located in the very south of Kunashir Island. Strong tidal currents are often observed in the local water area. Their average value fluctuates within 1 m.
Climate
One of the warm currents of the Sea of Japan - Soybean - passes through the strait, so the winter here is somewhat warmer than directly on the Pacific coast. Although in winter, due to the cold East Sakhalin current, the Kunashir Strait is filled with ice.
The average annual air temperature in this area is about +5°C. In summer, usually starting from August, and in autumn, powerful tropical cyclones are observed in these latitudes, accompanied by heavy precipitation with powerful gusts of storm wind up to 40 m/s.
Animal world
The Kunashir Strait and adjacent territories are the habitat of some species of seals (seals). Sea beavers, dolphins, minke whales, killer whales live here. In this area you can find Pacific cod, herring, capelin, pollock. Thanks to the warm Soya current, the conditions necessary for the favorable development and reproduction of some species of subtropical mollusks are created in the area of the strait.
