Planet Earth has many water areas. These are oceans, seas, rivers, lakes. Naturally, it is thanks to them that life on this planet is possible. The seas and oceans also have bays and straits. The latter are characteristic water areas that separate the islands from the mainland. They also connect adjacent basins of the oceans or seas. One of these is the Long Strait (where it is located, read below).
Strait Description
The Long Strait belongs to the Arctic Ocean. The coordinates of the water area: 70 ° 10 ′ north latitude and 178 ° 03 ′ east longitude. It separates Wrangel Island from the coast of Chukotka. Its length is about 130 km, the minimum width is 150 km. The smallest depth of the strait in its navigable part is about 40 meters.
Longa is a strait that is named after the American captain who was engaged in whaling. It was Thomas Long who discovered the Wrangel Island in the 19th century.
Most of the year the strait is covered with ice. Due to constant hummocks and other accumulations of ice, navigation is extremely difficult and is carried out only in the summer months. Round-the-clock shipping is unprofitable, due to the need for the constant availability of large icebreakers. Longa Strait is used primarily to provide essential goods to remote areas of the North.
Currents and Climate
In this water area, cold, arctic currents prevail. The water is quite salty, but the circulating masses of water are subject to desalination. This is due to the considerable flow of the northern rivers.
Longa Strait is located in the Arctic climate zone. Naturally, this largely affects the weather. The average temperature of the warmest month of the year, July, slightly exceeds 2 ° C. Blizzards and storms are often observed in these territories.
Fauna
Longa is a strait whose fauna is extremely scarce. There is practically no fishing for fish and other marine inhabitants. There are pinnipeds and polar bears on the coast. They are hunted by the Chukchi and Evenki region. Also along the Long Strait is a migration path of bowhead and gray whales.