By Newell and Zhou / Sources: Ministry of Natural Resources, 2002; ESRI, 2002. Baikovo Severo-Kurilsk Kolendo SEVERO-KURILSKY Moskalvo !. Okha Russian Far East Tungor Rybnovsk Sabo Neftegorsk OKHINSKY r e v i R r u Pogibi m Val A Map 11.1 NOGLIKSKY Nogliki KHABAROVSK ! Katangli Viakhtu Nysh Sakhalin Oblast 87,100 sq. km s ALEXANDROVSK SAKHALINSKY Mgachi Ado-Tymovo d Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky ! ! n Due Tymovskoe Kirovskoe a TYMOVSKY l Shirokaya Pad s Onor VSKY Sea of Okhotsk Pilvo YKHO I SMIRN Langeri Pervomaisk Pobedino Boshnyakovo Smirnykh l Buyukly Lesogorsk Matrosovo i PORONAISKY Vladimirovo r Shakhtersk ! ! KURILSKY Uglegorsk ! Poronaisk Gastello u UGLEGORSKY Orlovo K Ainskoe ! Makarov Krasnogorsk Parusnoe Vostochny MAKAROVSKY Pugachevo Reidovo Ilinsky TOMARINSKY Kurilsk Vzmorie Tatar Strait Pioner Firsovo Burevestnik Chekhov DOLINSKY Uglezavodsk Kostromskoe ! Dolinsk KHOLMSKY Sinegorsk Kholmsk !. P! YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK Y UZHNO- KURILS KY Malokurilskoe Nevelsk ! Aniva KORSAKOVSKY !. Shebunino Korsakov Yuzhno-Kurilsk Kirillovo Moneron Novikovo Island NEVELSKY ANIVSKY Golovnino ¯ ¯ km km 100 100 374 Ⅲ THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages SAKHALIN CHAPTER 11 Sakhalin Oblast Location Sakhalin Island lies east of mainland Khabarovsk Krai, separated by the Nevelsky Strait (7.4 km) and the Amur estuary. It lies 10,417 km east of Moscow, 1,000 km north of Vladivostok, and 40 km north of Hokkaido, Japan. Sakhalin is washed by the Tatar Strait to the west, the Sea of Okhotsk to the north and east, and the Sea of Japan to the southwest. The volcanic Kuril Island archipelago stretches in two ranges (the Greater and the Lesser Kuril Island chains) from Kamchatka Peninsula in the north to Hokkaido in the south, forming a breaker between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacifi c Ocean. Tiny Moneron Island lies in the Sea of Japan to the west of the southern tip of Sakhalin. Size Sakhalin Oblast (which includes Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands) has a total area of 87,100 sq. km. Sakhalin Island, Russia’s largest, is 76,400 sq. km, 948 km long, 160 km at its widest point, and 26 km at its narrowest. The Kuril Island chain (15,600 sq. km) spans 1,200 km and includes over thirty islands as well as many small islets and rocks. The oblast has seventeen raions, three of which cover the Kuril Islands. Climate Sakhalin’s maritime climate is milder and wetter than that of mainland Khabarovsk Krai. Average temperatures range from –30°c in January to 15°c in July. Spring arrives one month earlier in the south than in the north. Summer is cool except in August; June and July are particularly misty and foggy. Fall has typhoons with hurricane-force winds. Snow is heavy from November to March, reaching a maximum depth of 50 cm in the north, 70 cm in the south, and up to 100 cm in the east. The lowlands of the Tym and Poronai Rivers have the most extreme temperature shifts (from –40°c to 38°c). The Kuril Islands are less infl uenced by monsoons, but do experience swift weather changes. Winters are mild and summers cool. The Sea of Okhotsk is covered by ice for six months of the year, until June or later. The ice reaches a thickness of between 1.5 and 2 m, with pack ice and ice shears in the north. Because of the Sea’s infl uence, the middle part of the Kuril Islands chain has a colder climate than the northern part. There are frequent typhoons, strong winds, constant fog in warmer seasons, and extremely strong currents. Earthquakes can reach 8 on the Richter scale and sometimes cause tsunamis. Geography and ecology Mountains cover three-quarters of Sakhalin Island. Two parallel ranges stretch from north to south. The highest peak of the eastern range is Lopatin Mountain (1,609 m); Onor 375 Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages SAKHALIN Mountain (1,330 m) is the highest in the west. A third mountain range, Susunaisky Ridge, lies in the south. Key issues and projects Forests cover about two-thirds of Sakhalin and dif- fer greatly from north to south. Dahurian larch (Larix Offshore oil and gas gmelini) forests cover the north. The widest stretches Exploration and production for multibillion- of Ayan spruce (Picea ayanensis) and Sakhalin fi r (Abies dollar offshore oil and gas projects has started sakhalinensis) forests are found in the central regions. on the Sakhalin shelf, with seven planned at a The southern half of the island was clear-cut by the price tag of more than U.S.$100 billion over the ruling Japanese in the fi rst half of the century, and fi res next forty years.1 These projects are a litmus test have seriously damaged the forests in the south. As a re- for further oil and gas development all around the sult, large areas are covered with small-leaved forest and Sea of Okhotsk. Some observers believe that oil stone birch (Betula ermanii) forest with bamboo (Sasa development has had some positive effect on the kurilensis). There are, however, old-growth fi r forests Sakhalin economy; others voice concern about the along Susunaisky Ridge and some fragments remain environmental impact, limited benefi ts to the local on Krilon Peninsula in the southwest. Southern and population, and threats to the fi shing industry and northern vegetation types grow together in the south. traditional economic activities. High precipitation, low evaporation, and the moun- tainous relief have created more than sixteen thousand Wasteful fi sheries practices lakes and sixty-fi ve thousand rivers, most of which are Sakhalin has lost 30 percent of its natural salmon- important spawning grounds less than 10 km long. The spawning grounds because of the logging and oil largest rivers, Tym and Poronai, fl ow between the two industries. Herring, pollock, fl ounder, and smelt major mountain ranges. The Tym-Poronai lowlands populations have declined due to overfi shing, make up central Sakhalin. Wetlands stretch along the illegal fi shing (especially for crab), and to a lesser northwestern and northeastern coasts, along the shores extent, pollution. Russians are concerned about of Terpeniya Bay, and in the south, near Aniva Bay. Japanese driftnet fi shing, which harms salmon The Kuril Islands are a chain of volcanoes broken by runs in the Sea of Okhotsk. straits; thirty-nine of the volcanoes are active. The high- est are Tyatya Volcano (1,819 m) on Kunashir Island and The Kuril Islands Alaid Volcano (2,339 m) on Atlasova Island. Hydrother- Kurilsky Zapovednik (65,365 ha) protects the mal springs and frequent earthquakes are further testa- northern and southern portions of Kunashir Island, ments to seismic activity; typhoons and tidal waves also one of the southern Kurils. Russia has applied to strike. Coniferous broadleaved forests cover 55 percent of UNESCO to declare the zapovednik and a nearby the southern Kurils. Bamboo is also widespread in the zakaznik a World Heritage site. Problems facing south. Larch forests cover most of Iturup Island, while the Kurils include gold mining in the buffer zone stone birch forests dominate Urup Island and parts of of the zapovednik, illegal driftnet fi shing by the Shikotan Island. Japanese stone pine (Pinus pumila) Japanese off the Kuril Islands, and plans for a grows at higher altitudes on all islands except Shikotan. nuclear waste dump on Simushir Island, one of Shrub alders (Alnus) are more common in the north, the smaller Kurils. while the middle part of the island chain has mostly tundra and coastal meadows. Flora and fauna Sakhalin has unique mosaic vegetation due to its geographical position and length, and its proximity to the cold Sea of Okhotsk, the warm Sea of Japan, and the Pacifi c Ocean. Twenty-seven percent of the former Soviet Union’s mammal species, 43 percent of the bird species, and 94 percent of the whale species live in or migrate to the oblast. 376 Ⅲ THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages SAKHALIN There are 1,570 species of fl ora, including 45 endemic and many rare species. Sakhalin has 371 bird species. Whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus), scoters (Melanitta), mergansers (Mergus), sandpipers (Calidris), oystercatchers (Haematopus), and others migrate to Sakhalin’s coastal wetlands. Rare birds include sea eagles (Haliaeetus), Nordmann’s green- shank (Tringa guttifer ), a recently discovered endemic subspecies of dunlin (Calidris alpina actites), Siberian grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), and Blackiston’s fi sh-owl (Ketupa blakis- toni). The Kuril Islands have huge seabird colonies with the highest seabird diversity in Asia. Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) and other rare species breed on Kunashir and the Lesser Kuril Islands. Kunashir also has more Blakiston’s fi sh-owls than all of Japan. Sakhalin has ninety-one mammal species, including brown bear (Ursus arctos), sable (Martes zibellina), river otter (Lutra lutra), muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), an endangered subspecies of musk deer (Moschus mosciferus sakhali- nensis), and eight rare species of cetaceans. It also has the rfe’s only endemic reptile, the Sakhalin viper (Vipera sakhalinensis). The Kuril Islands have fi ve species of reptiles and a great variety of insects. The waters around Sakhalin are home to hundreds of species of fi sh. Many marine invertebrates are endemic to the Kurils. Anadromous fi sh include four species of salmon, the globally endangered green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), Amur sturgeon (A. schrenkii), and kaluga sturgeon (Huso dauricus). Dolphins, Steller’s sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), seals, and the endangered Okhotsk-Korean population of gray whales (Eschrichtus robustus) also inhabit Sakhalin’s waters.