Shchastya Bay

Schastya Bay (Zaliv Schast'ya) is a long coastal lagoon in the southern end of the Sea of Okhotsk facing the northwestern tip of Sakhalin. It is limited in the north by the Petrovskaya Kosa landspit, Chkalov Island and Baydukov Island.

Schastya Bay is about 40 Km long and has an average width of 7 Km. There are three passes, the broadest of which is between Chkalov and Baydukov Islands.

This lagoon is a bird sanctuary and a great variety of shorebirds have their home in the area. [ [http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU07026.pdf Shorebird census] ]

The Schastya Bay was populated by Russians who built winter settlements in the area in centuries past. [ [http://www.ramsar.org/cop9/cop9_nr_russia.pdf Archaeological excavations] ] Nowadays there are three settlements around Schastya Bay: Men'shikovo, Vlas'evo and Khaburs. Administratively this lagoon belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation.

Schastya Bay has no relation with the 1987 Soviet movie "Zaliv Schastya".

History

Theis area became briefly the center of attention of the press in 1936 when Soviet pilot Valery Pavlovich Chkalov flew on an Antonov ANT-25 plane from Moscow through Franz Joseph Land, Severnaya Zemlya, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Khabarovsk. The plane landed 56 hours and 20 minutes later in Udd Island (now Chkalov Island) after having covered 9,374 Km. This long non-stop flight was named the "Stalin Route", after then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. [ [http://www.royfc.com/news/sep/0806sep02.html History] ]

References

* [http://worldmaps.web.infoseek.co.jp/russia_guide.htm Location]
* [http://visualrian.com/images/item/18898 Picture of Pilots Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov sitting next to their plane on Udd Island, Scahastya Bay]
* [http://www.avia.ru/news/?id=1157716186 Anatoliy Kvochur's Su-30 Airplane Lands at Zhukovskiy]
* [http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CW69-15-4-2000E.pdf Seabirds of the Russian Far East]

External links

* [http://land.worldcitydb.com/khabarovskiy_in_russian_federation_state.html Khabarovsk Krai]