Susie Welsh, age 12, of Lynn, Mass., for her question:
HOW DID THE BERING SEA RECEIVE ITS NAME?
A large body of water that is located between Alaska and the Soviet Union is called the Bering Sea. It is the fourth largest sea in the world. It was named in honor of Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator who had been hired in 1724 by Peter the Great of Russia to find out if Asia and America were connected by land.
Bering set sail through the narrow passage now known as the Bering Strait in 1728. Satisfied that water definitely separated the continents, he retraced his route home in 1730.
Eleven years later Bering again sailed across the Bering Sea. But this time he reached the coast of Alaska. On his return trip, he died on the island that bears his name.
To the south of the Bering Sea the Aleutian Islands make a boundary between the sea and the Pacific Ocean.
The chief islands in the Bering Sea include St. Lawrence, Nunivak and the Pribilof group in the north and east, and the Commander or Komandorski group in the west.
Scientists have estimated the Bering Seas average depth at about 5,000 feet. The greatest depth is 15,659 feet, while the average depth in the southwest basin is 12,000 feet.
Water in the Bering Sea is extremely cold. During much of the year, ice actually forms in it. It has an average annual temperature of only 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bering Sea water currents force the ice into large clusters called pack ice during the winter months. Southwesterly winds during the summer drive the ice northward ano out of the way of shipping.
There are no forests along the coasts of the Bering Sea. In fact, there is very little vegetation. However, on some of the islanas including Commander and the Aleutian groups, thick carpets of grass cover the ground.
Living in the Bering Sea area are Aleuts, Eskimos, Koryaks and Chukchi. The Eskimos live along the Alaskan coast and on the islands near the center of the sea. The Aleuts live on the Aleutian Islands. The Chukchi and the Koryaks are Siberians who live on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Asia.
The only animal life found along the Bering Sea are birds, seals and foxes. In the water are a number of different fish.
Arguments came up during the late 19th Century between the United States and countries that practiced pelagic, or open sea sealing in the Bering Sea. The problem was finally solved in 1911 when the U. S., Japan, Russia and Great Britain signed a treaty abolishing the practice.
The Bering Sea is an important military location today since only about 50 miles separate Alaska and the Soviet Union across the Bering Strait.