Bering Sea

ocean · geography · arctic

Splits two continents. The Bering Sea, along with the Bering Strait, forms the divide between Eurasia and the Americas, which are the two largest landmasses on Earth.

Named after an explorer. The sea is named after Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian navigator who became the first European to systematically explore it in 1728.

Arctic connection. Bering sailed north from the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Arctic Ocean, making him the first European to find a water route between these two oceans.

Changing depths. The Bering Sea has a deep water basin in the middle that gradually rises through a narrow slope until it becomes shallower water over the continental shelves near the coasts.