Shantar Islands

The Shantar Islands (Острова Шантарские; Ostrova Shantarskiye) are a group of fifteen islands that lie in Uda Bay, in the southwestern zone of the Sea of Okhotsk. These islands are located close to the shores of the Siberian mainland. Most islands have rugged cliffs, but they are of moderate height; the highest point in the island group is 720 metres.

The largest island in the Shantar group is Bolshoy Shantar Island (1790 km²). It is about 72 Km in length and 49 Km in width. It has a large brackish lake (Lake Bol'shoe) in its northern end which is connected to the sea through a narrow passage. Smelts (Hypomesus japonicus) and (H. olidus) are found on this lake. [ [http://www.maik.ru/abstract/ichth/5/ichth1_5p28abs.htm Lake Bol'shoe] ]

Other islands include Feklistova Island (372 km²), Maly Shantar Island, (100 km²), Prokofyeva, Sakharnaya Golova, Belichiy, Kusova, Ptichiy, Utichiy, Yuzhnyy and finally Medvezhiy, which lies very close to the coast.

Administratively this island group belongs to the Khabarovsk Krai of the Russian Federation.

Ecology

There is no permanent population on the Shantar Islands, but they are often visited by commercial fishermen who use them as a base. Other economic activities undertaken on these islands are fur hunting and trapping as well as lumbering, which in the past were often done illegally. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-851X(194003)13%3A1%3C110%3ASOTO(I%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P Illegal hunting and fishing in the Shantarskiye Islands] ] There are spruce forests on the largest islands. [ [http://www.nhbs.com/spruce_woodlands_of_the_shantarskie_islands_tefno_87348.html Taiga in the Shantarskiye Islands] ] Other trees in the island taiga are the Siberian spruce, the Dahurian larch and the mountain pine.

Although there is little evidence of human impact, the Shantar island ecosystem is under threat. There many endangered birds in these islands, including the Blakiston's Fish-owl, osprey, black stork, red-necked grebe, gyrfalcon, solitary snipe, Steller's sea eagle and the Siberian Grouse. [ [http://www.russianconservation.org/pdfs/RCN26.PDF Russian Conservation; Endangered Ecosystems, The Shantar Islands, page 7] ]

The Kamchatka brown bear (Ursus arctos beringianus), sable and marten are common on the Shantar Islands. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-541X(195507)19%3A3%3C364%3AFHOMII%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 Fauna] ]

The waters around these coastal islands are frozen for about eight months on a yearly average, so that they are merged with the mailand most of the year. Bearded seals, Bowhead whales and western gray whales are common in the waters off the islands.

One of the most severe threats to the environment of the Shantar Islands is a proposed tidal hydroelectric power station, which is currently on hold for lack of funds. [ [http://www.russianconservation.org/pdfs/RCN26.PDF Russian Conservation; Endangered Ecosystems, The Shantar Islands, page 8] ]

History

The first recorded exploration of the Shantar Islands was in April 1640, when Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin allegedly sailed to the mouth of the Amur River with a group of Cossacks and spotted the Shantar Islands on the way back. Moskvitin reported his discoveries to Prince Shcherbatov, the Muscovite voivode in Tomsk. Based on Ivan Moskvitin's account, the first Russian map of the Far East was drawn in March 1642.

The Shantar Islands were explored by Russian surveyors between 1711 and 1725. [ [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2049402 From the History of the Great Russian Geographical Discoveries in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans in the Seventeenth and First Half of the Eighteenth Centuries. by A. V. Efimov] ]

There is a plan to declare the Shantar Islands a National Park by 2010. [ [http://www.russianconservation.org/pdfs/RCN26.PDF Russian Conservation; Endangered Ecosystems, New Protected Areas Planned for Russia, page 43] ]

Adjacent Islands

*Menshikov Island (Остров Меньшикова; Ostrov Men'shikova) coord|54|36|N|139|14|E|type:isle lies 71 Km to the east of Kusov Island's eastern shore. It is 7 Km long and has a maximum width of 1.6 Km.
*Reyneke Island (Остров Рейнеке; Ostrov Reyneke) coord|54|19|N|139|47|E|type:isle lies 45 Km to the southeast of Menshikov Island. It is 7 Km long and has a maximum width of 1.6 Km. It is located close to a landhead in the coast, separated from it by a 5 Km wide sound. This island should not be confused with Reyneke Island close to Russky Island in the Vladivostok Bay.

References

External links

* [http://worldmaps.web.infoseek.co.jp/russia_guide.htm Location]
* [http://www.isope.org/publications/proceedings/ISOPE/ISOPE1999/papers/I99v2p643.pdf Ice ridging]
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=16559&m=0 Bird life]
* [http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/index.php?cat=6 Tracking Steller’s Sea Eagles]
* [http://land.worldcitydb.com/khabarovskiy_in_russian_federation_state.html Khabarovsk Krai]