Decor / 18.09.2023

Sea currents of the Japanese and Okhotsk seas. Currents of the Japanese Sea. Tides in the Sea of Japan

Currents of the Sea of Japan They are distinguished by a noticeable variety of regimes, which determines the formation of mixed warm-water and temperate flora and fauna on the shores of the sea, despite quite clear zonal differences between the northwestern and southeastern parts of its water area.

general characteristics

In general, surface currents in the sea are cyclonic in nature and directed counterclockwise. The warm vector, represented by the Tsushima Current, moves along the island. Honshu to the north. The cold current comes from the Tartary Strait and passes along the coast of the mainland to the south. Each of them has large and small branches. In addition, in the inner part of the water area, up to five mixed circulation zones are distinguished, which are large whirlpools. Currents, divided into cold and warm, have the following names:

Peculiarities

Notes

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Prandtl Current
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Japanese Sea- a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, located between the mainland of Eurasia, the Korean Peninsula and the islands of Sakhalin, Hokkaido and Honshu. The countries washed by this sea are Russia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea. The Sea of Japan is one of the largest and deepest seas in the world. Its area is 1062 km 2, volume - 1631 thousand km 3, average depth - 1536 m, greatest depth - 3699 m. This is a marginal oceanic sea. There are no large islands in the Sea of Japan. Of the small ones, the most significant are the islands of Moneron, Rishiri, Okushiri, Ojima, Sado, Okinoshima, Ullyndo, Askold, Russky, and Putyatina. Tsushima Island is located in the Korea Strait. Almost all the islands are located near the coast. Most of them are located in the eastern part of the sea. The coastline of the Sea of Japan is relatively slightly indented. The simplest in outline is the coast of Sakhalin; the coasts of Primorye and the Japanese Islands are more winding.

Sailing

The study of the Sea of Japan in Russia began (by the detachments of the Great Northern, or Second Kamchatka, expedition of 1733-43) by determining the geographical location of the islands of Japan and Sakhalin and partially photographing their coasts. In 1806, surveys of the eastern coast of the Sea of Japan were carried out by the expedition of I. F. Krusenstern and Yu. F. Lisyansky during their circumnavigation of the world (1803-1806). The discovery in 1849 by G.I. Nevelsky of the strait between the mainland and the island was important. Sakhalin. Since 1880, a permanent Hydrographic Expedition began its work, ensuring the compilation of accurate navigation maps. Simultaneously with hydrographic work, observations of water temperature and surface currents were carried out. Extensive oceanographic work in the Pacific Ocean and Far Eastern seas began in 1888, with the voyage of S. O. Makarov on the corvette Vityaz. Makarov made careful deep-sea observations in the La Perouse Strait for the first time; Oceanographers still use this data to this day.

During World War II, the study of the sea was sporadic. After the war, especially with the arrival of the special expedition vessel of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences “Vityaz”, research work in the Far Eastern seas reached enormous proportions.

Bottom relief

Based on the nature of the bottom topography, the Sea of Japan is divided into three parts: northern, central and southern. The northern part of the sea is a wide trench, gradually rising and narrowing towards the north. The central part of the sea is a deep closed basin, slightly elongated in the east-northeast direction. The southern part of the sea has a very complex topography with alternating troughs and relatively shallow areas. Here is the vast underwater rise of Yamato.

Climate and hydrological regime

The climate of the Sea of Japan is temperate, monsoonal. The northern and western parts of the sea are much colder than the southern and eastern. In the coldest months (January-February), the average air temperature in the northern part of the sea is about -20 o C, and in the south about +5 o C. The summer monsoon brings with it warm and humid air. The average air temperature of the warmest month (August) in the northern part is approximately +15 o C, in the southern regions about +25 o C. In autumn, the number of typhoons caused by hurricane winds increases. The largest waves have a height of 8-10 m, and during typhoons, the maximum waves reach a height of 12 m.

In winter, the temperature of surface waters from -1 to 0 o C in the north and northwest rises to +10-14 o C in the south and southeast. Spring warming entails a fairly rapid increase in water temperature throughout the sea. In summer, the surface water temperature rises from +18-20 o C in the north to +25-27 o C in the south of the sea. The salinity of the water in the Sea of Japan is 33.7-34.3‰, which is slightly lower than the salinity of the waters of the World Ocean. The tides in the Sea of Japan are distinct, to a greater or lesser extent in different areas. The greatest level fluctuations are observed in the extreme northern and extreme southern regions and reach 3 meters. The appearance of ice in the Sea of Japan is possible as early as October, and the last ice lingers in the north sometimes until mid-June. Every year, only the northern bays of the mainland coast freeze completely. In the western part of the sea, floating, stationary ice appears earlier than in the eastern part, and it is more stable.

Flora and fauna

The Sea of Japan is one of the most productive. Along the coast, algae form powerful thickets; The benthos is diverse and large in biomass. The abundance of food and oxygen, the influx of warm waters create favorable conditions for the development of fish fauna. The fish population of the Sea of Japan includes 615 species. Here you can find octopuses and squids - typical representatives of warm seas. At the same time, vertical walls overgrown with sea anemones, gardens of brown algae - kelp - all this is reminiscent of the landscapes of the White and Barents Seas. In the Sea of Japan there is a huge abundance of starfish and sea urchins, of various colors and sizes, brittle stars, shrimps, and small crabs are found (Kamchatka crabs are found here only in May, and then they move further into the sea). Bright red ascidians live on rocks and stones. The most common shellfish is scallops. Among the fish, blennies and sea ruffes are often found. In the Sea of Japan you can find fur seals that come here for the winter from more northern regions, representatives of earless seals - seals, dolphins and even whales.

Economic importance

The Sea of Japan is characterized by high development of two industries. Fisheries combine fishing (sardine, mackerel, saury and other species) and the extraction of non-fish objects (sea shellfish - mussels, scallops, squid; algae - kelp, seaweed, ahnfeltia). The leading place in the species composition of fish catches is occupied by pollock, sardine and anchovy. Fishing in most parts of the sea continues all year round. In the Sea of Japan, active work is underway to breed mariculture - the most promising method of using marine biological resources. On the shores of the Sea of Japan, in Vladivostok, the Trans-Siberian Railway ends. The most significant transshipment transport hub is located here, where cargo is exchanged between rail and sea transport. Further along the Sea of Japan, cargo travels on sea vessels to various foreign and Russian ports, just as they arrive from other ports to the ports of the Sea of Japan: Nakhodka, Vanino, Aleksandrovsk-on-Sakhalin, Kholmsk. These ports provide maritime transport not only in the Sea of Japan, but also beyond it. Since the 1990s, the coast of the Sea of Japan off the coast of Primorye has begun to be actively developed by local and visiting tourists. The impetus was factors such as the abolition or simplification of visiting the border zone, the rise in the cost of passenger transportation around the country, which made it too expensive for Far Easterners to vacation on the Black Sea coast, as well as the greatly increased number of personal vehicles, which made the Primorye coast accessible to residents of Khabarovsk and the Amur region.

The resource base of minerals in the Russian part of the Sea of Japan is insignificant. The Izylmetyevskoe gas field was discovered on the West Sakhalin shelf of the sea, but it is unprofitable for exploitation. Promising areas with sand were identified on the continental shores of the sea.

Ecology

The Sea of Japan abounds in flora and fauna suitable for industrial production. Fishing fleets of states are actively fishing and catching crabs, sea cucumbers, algae, sea urchins and scallops. At the same time, there are problems associated with it. The discrepancy between the amount of fish and shellfish caught and the volume of their natural restoration leads to the death and extinction of some of their species. The share of poaching in this is large. In addition, the fleet pollutes sea waters with waste fuels and lubricants, oil products, waste and sewage. This applies not only to fishing vessels, but also to the merchant and military fleets of the four powers. Nuclear fleet bases in the ports of the Sea of Japan, disposal and disposal of used radioactive substances and ships removed from combat duty require close attention and control.

The main source of pollution is the city of Vladivostok. The wastewater from its industrial enterprises, city sewerage, and products from the economic activities of the port and ship repair yards end up in the waters of the Amur and Ussuri Bays, and most of all, in the aquatic environment of the Golden Horn Bay.

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean and is limited by the coasts of Japan, Russia and Korea. The Sea of Japan is connected through the Korea Strait in the south with the East China and Yellow Seas, through the Tsugaru (Sangara) Strait in the East with the Pacific Ocean and through the La Perouse and Tatar Straits in the north with the Sea of Okhotsk. The area of the Sea of Japan is 980,000 km2, the average depth is 1361 m. The northern border of the Sea of Japan runs along 51 ° 45 "N latitude (from Cape Tyk on Sakhalin to Cape Yuzhny on the mainland). The southern border runs from the island of Kyushu to the Goto Islands and from there to Korea [Cape Kolcholkap (Izgunov)]

The Sea of Japan has an almost elliptical shape with the major axis in the direction from southwest to northeast. Along the coast there are a number of islands or island groups - these are the islands of Iki and Tsushima in the middle part of the Korean Strait. (between Korea and Kyushu Island), Ulleungdo and Takashima off the east coast of Korea, Oki and Sado off the west coast of Honshu Island (Hondo) and Tobi Island off the northwestern coast of Honshu (Hondo).

Bottom relief

The straits connecting the Sea of Japan with the marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean are characterized by shallow depths; only the Korea Strait has depths of more than 100 m. Bathymetrically, the Sea of Japan can be divided by 40° N. w. into two parts: northern and southern.

The northern part has a relatively flat bottom topography and is characterized by an overall smooth slope. The maximum depth (4224 m) is observed in the area of 43°00"N, 137°39"E. d.
The bottom topography of the southern part of the Sea of Japan is quite complex. In addition to the shallow waters around the islands of Iki, Tsushima, Oki, Takashima and Ulleungdo, there are two large isolated
jars separated by deep grooves. This is the Yamato Bank, opened in 1924, in the area of 39°N, 135°E. etc., and the Shunpu Bank (also called the Northern Yamato Bank), opened in 1930 and located approximately 40° N. latitude, 134° east. d. The smallest depths of the first and second banks are 285 and 435 m, respectively. A depression with a depth of more than 3000 m was discovered between the Yamato Bank and the island of Honshu.

Hydrological regime

Water masses, temperature and salinity. The Sea of Japan can be divided into two sectors: warm (from Japan) and cold (from Korea and Russia (Primorsky Territory). The boundary between the sectors is the polar front, running approximately along the parallel of 38-40 ° N, i.e. almost along the same latitudes along which the polar front passes in the Pacific Ocean east of Japan.

Water masses

The Sea of Japan can be divided into surface, intermediate and deep. The surface water mass occupies a layer up to approximately 25 m and in summer is separated from the underlying waters by a clearly defined thermocline layer. The surface water mass in the warm sector of the Sea of Japan is formed by the mixing of surface waters of high temperature and low salinity coming from the East China Sea and the coastal waters of the Japan Islands region, in the cold sector - by the mixing of waters formed when ice melts from early summer to autumn , and the waters of Siberian rivers.

The surface water mass exhibits the largest fluctuations in temperature and salinity depending on the season and region. Thus, in the Korea Strait, the salinity of surface waters in April and May exceeds 35.0 ppm. which is higher than the salinity in the deeper layers, but in August and September the salinity of surface waters drops to 32.5 ppm. At the same time, in the area of the island of Hokkaido, salinity varies only from 33.7 to 34.1 ppm. In summer surface water temperature 25°C, but in winter it varies from 15°C in the Korea Strait to 5°C near the island. Hokkaido. In the coastal areas of Korea and Primorye, changes in salinity are small (33.7-34 ppm). The intermediate water mass, which lies below the surface water in the warm sector of the Sea of Japan, has high temperature and salinity. It is formed in the intermediate layers of Kuroshio west of Kyushu Island and enters the Sea of Japan from there during the period of early winter to early summer.

However, based on the distribution of dissolved oxygen, intermediate water can also be observed in the cold sector. In the warm sector, the core of the intermediate water mass is located approximately in the 50 m layer; salinity is about 34.5 ppm. The intermediate water mass is characterized by a rather strong decrease in vertical temperature - from 17 ° C at a depth of 25 m to 2 ° C at a depth of 200 m. The thickness of the layer of intermediate water decreases from the warm to the cold sector; in this case, the vertical temperature gradient for the latter becomes much more pronounced. The salinity of intermediate waters is 34.5–34.8 ppm. in the warm sector and about 34.1 industrial. in the cold. The highest salinity values are observed here at all depths - from the surface to the bottom.

The deep water mass, usually called the water of the Sea of Japan itself, has extremely uniform temperature (about 0-0.5 ° C) and salinity (34.0-34.1 ppm). More detailed studies by K. Nishida, however, showed that the temperature of deep waters below 1500 m increases slightly due to adiabatic heating. At the same horizon, a decrease in oxygen content to a minimum is observed, and therefore it is more logical to consider waters above 1500 m as deep, and below 1500 m as bottom. Compared to the waters of other seas, the oxygen content in the Sea of Japan at the same depths is exceptionally high (5.8-6.0 cm3/l), which indicates the active renewal of water in the deep layers of the Sea of Japan. The deep waters of the Sea of Japan are formed mainly in February and March as a result of the subsidence of surface waters in the northern part of the Sea of Japan due to horizontal diffusion, cooling in winter and subsequent convection, after which their salinity increases to approximately 34.0 ppm.

Sometimes the low-salinity surface waters of the cold sector (1-4° C, 33.9 ppm) wedge into the polar front and deepen in a southerly direction, going under the intermediate waters of the warm sector. This phenomenon is similar to the penetration of subarctic intermediate water below the warm Kuroshio layer in the Pacific Ocean in the area north of Japan.

In spring and summer, the salinity of warm waters from the East China Sea and cold waters east of Korea decreases due to precipitation and melting ice. These less saline waters mix with surrounding waters and the overall salinity of the surface waters of the Sea of Japan decreases. Additionally, these surface waters gradually warm up during the warmer months. As a result, the density of surface waters decreases, which leads to the formation of a clearly defined upper thermocline layer that separates the surface waters from the underlying intermediate waters. The upper thermocline layer is located in the summer season at a depth of 25 m. In autumn, heat is transferred from the sea surface to the atmosphere. Due to mixing with underlying water masses, the temperature of surface waters decreases and their salinity increases. The resulting intense convection leads to a deepening of the upper thermocline layer to 25–50 m in September and 50–100 m in November. In autumn, intermediate waters of the warm sector are characterized by a decrease in salinity due to the influx of waters of the Tsushima Current with lower salinity. At the same time, convection in the surface water layer intensifies during this period. As a result, the thickness of the intermediate water layer decreases. In November, the upper thermocline layer disappears completely due to the mixing of overlying and underlying waters. Therefore, in autumn and spring there is only an upper homogeneous layer of water and an underlying cold layer, separated by a layer of lower thermocline. The latter for most of the warm sector is located at a depth of 200-250, but to the north it rises and off the coast of the island of Hokkaido is located at a depth of about 100 m. In the warm sector of the surface layer, temperatures reach a maximum in mid-August, although in the northern part of the Sea of Japan they spread to the depths. The minimum temperature is observed in February–March. On the other hand, the maximum surface layer temperature off the Korean coast is observed in August. However, due to the strong development of the upper thermocline layer, only a very thin surface layer is heated. Thus, temperature changes in the 50-100 m layer are almost entirely due to advection. Due to the low temperatures characteristic of most of the Sea of Japan at fairly large depths, the waters of the Tsushima Current are greatly cooled as they move north.

The waters of the Sea of Japan are characterized by exceptionally high levels of dissolved oxygen, partly due to the abundance of phytoplankton. The oxygen content at almost all horizons here is about 6 cm3/l or more. Particularly high oxygen content is observed in surface and intermediate waters, with a maximum value at the horizon of 200 m (8 cm3/l). These values are much higher than at the same and lower horizons in the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk (1-2 cm3/l).

Surface and intermediate waters are most saturated with oxygen. The percentage of saturation in the warm sector is 100% or slightly lower, and the waters near Primorsky Krai and Korea are oversaturated with oxygen due to low temperatures. Near the northern coast of Korea it is 110% and even higher. In deep waters there is a very high oxygen content right down to the bottom.

Color and transparency

The color of the water of the Sea of Japan (according to the color scale) in the warm sector is bluer than in the cold sector, corresponding to the region of 36-38° N. latitude, 133-136° east. etc. index III and even II. In the cold sector this is mainly the color of indices IV-VI, and in the Vladivostok region it is above III. In the northern part of the Sea of Japan, the sea water has a greenish color. Transparency (by the white disk) in the Tsushima Current region is more than 25 m. In the cold sector it sometimes drops to 10 m.

Currents of the Sea of Japan

The main current of the Sea of Japan is the Tsushima Current, which originates in the East China Sea. It is strengthened mainly by the branch of the Kuroshio Current, going to the SOUTHWEST of the island. Kyushu, as well as partially by coastal runoff from China. The Tsushima Current contains surface and intermediate water masses. The current enters the Sea of Japan through the Korea Strait and heads along the northwestern coast of Japan. There, a branch of the warm current, called the East Korean Current, separates from it, which goes in the north, to the coast of Korea, to the Korean Gulf and Ulleungdo Island, then turns to the SE and connects with the main flow.

The Tsushima Current, about 200 km wide, washes the shores of Japan and goes further to the NE at a speed of 0.5 to 1.0 knots. Then it divides into two branches - the warm Sangar Current and the warm La Perouse Current, which respectively exit into the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru (Sangarsky) Strait and into the Sea of Okhotsk through the La Perouse Strait. Both of these currents, after passing through the straits, turn east and go, respectively, near the eastern coast of the island of Honshu and the northern coast of the island of Hokkaido.

There are three cold currents in the Sea of Japan: the Liman current, moving at low speed to the southwest in the area north of the Primorsky Territory, the North Korean current, going south in the Vladivostok area to eastern Korea, and the Primorsky current, or the cold current in the middle part of the Sea of Japan, which originates in the area Tatar Strait and goes to the central part of the Sea of Japan, mainly to the entrance to the Tsugaru (Sangara) Strait. These cold currents form a counterclockwise circulation and, in the cold sector of the Sea of Japan, contain clearly defined layers of surface and intermediate water masses. There is a clear boundary of the “polar” front between the warm and cold currents.

Because the Tsushima Current contains surface and intermediate water masses that are about 200 m thick and is separated from the underlying deep water, the thickness of this current is basically of the same order.

The current speed is almost constant to a depth of 25 m, and then decreases with depth to 1/6 of the surface value at a depth of 75 m. The flow rate of the Tsushima Current is less than 1/20 of the flow rate of the Kuroshio Current.

The speed of cold currents is about 0.3 knots for the Liman Current and less than 0.3 knots for the Primorsky Current. The cold North Korean Current, which is the strongest, has a speed of 0.5 knots. The width of this current is 100 km, thickness - 50 m. Basically, cold currents in the Sea of Japan are much weaker than warm ones. The average speed of the Tsushima Current passing through the Korean Strait is lower in winter, and increases to 1.5 knots in summer (in August). For the Tsushima Current, interannual changes are also observed, with a clear period of 7 years being distinguished. The flow of water into the Sea of Japan mainly occurs through the Korea Strait, since the inflow through the Tartary Strait is very insignificant. The flow of water from the Sea of Japan occurs through the Tsugaru (Sangara) and La Perouse Straits.

Tides and tidal currents

Tides are low for the Sea of Japan. While off the coast of the Pacific Ocean the tide is 1-2 m, in the Sea of Japan it reaches only 0.2 m. Slightly higher values are observed off the coast of the Primorsky Territory - up to 0.4-0.5 m. In the Korean and Tatar Territories In the straits, the tide increases, reaching more than 2 m in some places.

Tidal waves propagate at right angles to these cotidal lines. West of Sakhalin and in the area of the Korean Strait. two points of amphidromy are observed. A similar cotidal map can be constructed for the lunisolar diurnal tide. In this case, the amphidromy point is located in the Korea Strait. Since the total cross-sectional area of the La Perouse and Tsugaru Straits is only 1/8 of the cross-sectional area of the Korea Strait, and the cross-section of the Tartary Strait is generally insignificant, the tidal wave comes here from the East China Sea mainly through the East passage (Tsushima Strait). The magnitude of forced fluctuations in the mass of water in the entire Sea of Japan is practically negligible. The resulting component of tidal currents and the eastward Tsushima Current sometimes reaches 2.8 knots. In the Tsugaru (Soigarsky) Strait, a tidal current of the diurnal type predominates, but the magnitude of the semidiurnal tide is greater here.

There is a clear diurnal inequality in tidal currents. The tidal current in the La Perouse Strait is less pronounced due to the difference in levels between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. There is also a diurnal inequality here. In the La Perouse Strait, the current is directed mainly to the east; its speed sometimes exceeds 3.5 knots.

Ice Conditions

Freezing of the Sea of Japan begins in mid-November in the area of the Tatar Strait and in early December in the upper reaches of Peter the Great Bay. In mid-December, areas near the northern part of Primorsky Krai and Peter the Great Bay freeze. In mid-December, ice appears in the coastal areas of Primorsky Krai. In January, the area of ice cover increases further from the coast towards the open sea. With the formation of ice, navigation in these areas naturally becomes difficult or stops. The freezing of the northern part of the Sea of Japan is somewhat delayed: it begins in early to mid-February.

Ice melting begins in areas furthest from the coast. In the second half of March, the Sea of Japan, with the exception of areas close to the coast, is already free of ice. In the northern part of the Sea of Japan, ice off the coast usually melts in mid-April, at which time navigation in Vladivostok resumes. The last ice in the Tartary Strait is observed in early to mid-May. The period of ice cover along the coast of the Primorsky Territory is 120 days, and near the De-Kastri harbor in the Strait of Tartary - 201 days. There is not much ice observed along the northern coast of the DPRK. On the western coast of Sakhalin, only the city of Kholmsk is free of ice, since a branch of the Tsushima Current enters this area. The remaining areas of this coast freeze for almost 3 months, during which navigation stops.

Geology

The continental slopes of the Sea of Japan basin are characterized by many submarine canyons. On the mainland side, these canyons stretch to depths of more than 2000 m, and on the side of the Japanese Islands only to 800 m. The mainland shoals of the Sea of Japan are poorly developed, the edge runs at a depth of 140 m on the mainland side and at a depth of more than 200 m. Yamato Bank and other banks The Sea of Japan is composed of bedrock consisting of Precambrian granites and other Paleozoic rocks and overlying Neogene igneous and sedimentary rocks. According to paleogeographic studies, the southern part of the modern Sea of Japan was probably dry land in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic and during most of the Paleogene. It follows from this that the Sea of Japan was formed during the Neogene and early Quaternary periods. The absence of a granite layer in the earth's crust of the northern part of the Sea of Japan indicates the transformation of the granite layer into a basalt layer due to basification, accompanied by subsidence of the earth's crust. The presence of “new” oceanic crust here can be explained by the stretching of continents accompanying the general expansion of the Earth (Egayed’s theory).

Thus, we can conclude that the northern part of the Sea of Japan was once dry land. The current presence of such a large amount of continental material on the bottom of the Sea of Japan at depths of more than 3000 m should indicate that the land subsided to a depth of 2000-3000 m in the Pleistocene.

The Sea of Japan currently has a connection with the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding marginal seas through the Korean, Tsugaru (Saigarsky), La Perouse and Tatar straits. However, the formation of these four straits occurred during very recent geological periods. The oldest strait is the Tsugaru (Sangara) Strait; it already existed during the Wisconsinian glaciation, although it may have been filled with ice several times after that and used in the migration of land animals. The Korea Strait was also dry land at the end of the Tertiary period, and through it the migration of southern elephants to the Japanese islands took place; this strait opened only at the beginning of the Wisconsin glaciation. The La Perouse Strait is the youngest. Fossilized remains of mammoths found on the island of Hokkaido indicate the existence of an isthmus. land on the site of this strait until the end of the Wisconsin glaciation

general characteristics

Peculiarities

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Soon after the return of Prince Andrei, the old prince separated his son and gave him Bogucharovo, a large estate located 40 miles from Bald Mountains. Partly because of the difficult memories associated with Bald Mountains, partly because Prince Andrei did not always feel able to bear his father’s character, and partly because he needed solitude, Prince Andrei took advantage of Bogucharov, built there and spent most of his time there. time.
Prince Andrei, after the Austerlitz campaign, firmly decided never to serve in military service again; and when the war began, and everyone had to serve, he, in order to get rid of active service, accepted a position under his father in collecting the militia. The old prince and his son seemed to change roles after the 1805 campaign. The old prince, excited by the activity, expected all the best from the real campaign; Prince Andrei, on the contrary, not participating in the war and secretly regretting it in his soul, saw only one bad thing.
On February 26, 1807, the old prince left for the district. Prince Andrei, as for the most part during his father’s absences, remained in Bald Mountains. Little Nikolushka had been unwell for the 4th day. The coachmen who drove the old prince returned from the city and brought papers and letters to Prince Andrei.
The valet with letters, not finding the young prince in his office, went to Princess Marya’s half; but he wasn’t there either. The valet was told that the prince had gone to the nursery.
“Please, your Excellency, Petrusha has come with the papers,” said one of the nanny’s girls, turning to Prince Andrei, who was sitting on a small children’s chair and with trembling hands, frowning, dripping medicine from a glass into a glass half filled with water.
- What's happened? - he said angrily, and carelessly shaking his hand, he poured an extra amount of drops from the glass into the glass. He threw the medicine out of the glass onto the floor and asked for water again. The girl handed it to him.
In the room there was a crib, two chests, two armchairs, a table and a children's table and chair, the one on which Prince Andrei was sitting. The windows were curtained, and one candle was burning on the table, covered with a bound book of music, so that the light would not fall on the crib.
“My friend,” Princess Marya said, turning to her brother from the crib where she stood, “it’s better to wait... after...
“Oh, do me a favor, you keep talking nonsense, you’ve been waiting for everything - so you’ve waited,” said Prince Andrei in an embittered whisper, apparently wanting to prick his sister.
“My friend, it’s better not to wake him up, he fell asleep,” the princess said in a pleading voice.
Prince Andrei stood up and, on tiptoe, approached the crib with a glass.
– Or definitely not to wake you up? – he said hesitantly.
“As you wish, that’s right... I think... as you wish,” said Princess Marya, apparently timid and ashamed that her opinion had triumphed. She pointed out to her brother the girl who was calling him in a whisper.

Part of the Pacific Ocean basin and separated from it by Sakhalin and the Japanese Islands, the Sea of Japan splashes off the coasts of Russia, Japan, China and Korea. The climatic conditions here are harsh. In the northern and western parts, ice appears already by the third ten days of November, and in some years the ice formed by the 20th of October. Temperatures in these areas can drop to -20 degrees Celsius. Ice melting begins in March and continues until the end of April. There were years when the sea surface was completely cleared of ice cover only in June.

However, in summer the Sea of Japan in its southern borders pleases with a water temperature of +27 (even higher than in the Aegean Sea!). In the northern part, the water temperature is about +20 degrees, the same as in May in the south of Greece. A characteristic feature of the Sea of Japan is its extremely unstable weather. In the morning the sun can shine brightly, and by lunchtime a strong wind rises and a storm with thunderstorms begins. This happens especially often in the fall. Then during a storm the wave can reach 10-12 meters in height.

The Sea of Japan is rich in fish. Mackerel, flounder, herring, saury, and cod are caught here. But the most popular, of course, is pollock. During spawning, coastal waters literally boil with a huge amount of this fish. They also produce shrimp and seaweed, which has become very popular in recent years, or rather, in addition, in the Sea of Japan you can find squid and octopus, which can be found weighing up to 50 kilograms. And the huge eels found here, also called herring kings, were in years past mistaken for underwater monsters.

Holidays on the Sea of Japan will appeal more to those who are not looking for noisy entertainment. The beauty of the reefs and crystal clear waters are ideal for snorkeling enthusiasts. Equipment here can be obtained from special diving centers. They also give it out at many tourist centers.

The only thing divers need to take into account is that the water temperature drops sharply with depth. In the northern waters, already at a depth of 50 meters it reaches only +4 degrees Celsius. In the southern part, the temperature reaches this level at a depth of approximately 200 meters. And a little deeper it equals zero.

Those who choose the Sea of Japan for vacation can not only go diving, but also make interesting forays into the Ussuri taiga. It keeps a lot of secrets and mysteries, so you won’t be bored here. Just look at the footprint of a giant left in a stone. Its length is incredible for our perception - it is one and a half meters! The Dragon Park is also of great interest. Local residents are sure that the unusual pile of huge boulders was once created by aliens. On the sea coast near the city of Nakhodka there are two hills called Brother and Sister. According to legend, they were made by the Titans as a gate through which the Prince of Light would one day come to Earth. For lovers of everything mysterious and unusual, a holiday on the Sea of Japan will seem like paradise. And the exotic beauty of these places will remain in the memory for a long time.

The Inland Sea of Japan splashes between Kyushu and Shikoku. It is small, only 18 thousand square kilometers, but is the most important transport artery between these islands. On its banks rise Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Osaka, Niihama and other major industrial centers of Japan. This sea is considered warm. The water temperature here, even in the winter months, never falls below +16 degrees Celsius, and in the summer it rises to +27. Tourism on this small sea is very well developed. Every year thousands of people from all over the world come here to admire the magnificent landscapes, visit ancient samurai shrines, and get acquainted with the original Japanese culture.

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