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Laptev Sea Facts

Laptev Sea Facts
The Laptev Sea is located in the Arctic Ocean, between the New Siberian Islands, Severnaya Zemlya, the Taimyr Peninsula, and Siberia's northern coast. Laptev Sea is considered a marginal sea, which means it is a division of an ocean. Laptev Sea is frozen for most of the year but opens in August and September. The shores of Laptev Sea were inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous people until Russian exploration began in the 1600s. The Laptev Sea covers an area of 270,000 square miles and has an average depth of 1,896 feet. Its deepest point is 11,106 feet.
Interesting Laptev Sea Facts:
Laptev Sea is named after Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, Russian explorers. It was given this name in 1935.
Prior to being called Laptev Sea it has been known as Nordenskiold, after another explorer. It had also been called the Tatar Sea, Lena Sea, Siberian Sea, and the Icy Sea.
The first known inhabitants of the shores of Laptev Sea were the Yukaghirs. They were replaced by the Evens and the Evenks. These tribes hunted, fished, and raised reindeer.
The Yakuts eventually replaced the earlier tribes and then were replaced by the Russians eventually.
The largest river to flow into Laptev Sea is the Lena River. Lena River is the Russian Arctic's second largest river. The first is Yenisei.
Other rivers that flow into Laptev Sea include the Yana River, the Omoloy River, the Olenyok River, the Anabar River, and the Khatanga River.
The Laptev Sea's main gulfs along its coast include Yana Bay, Buor-Khaya Gulf, Olenyok Gulf, and the Khatanga Gulf.
Islands in Laptev Sea include Severnaya Zemlya Islands, the Vilkitsky and Faddy Islands, the Bolshoy Begichev Islands, and the Komsomolskaya Pravda Islands.
The polar nights in the north of Laptev Sea last roughly five months each year while the polar nights in the south of Laptev Sea last about three months each year.
Snow falls on Laptev Sea even in the summer months. In the winter it is commonly subjected to blizzards and snow storms.
There are more than 100 diatom species in the Laptev Sea.
There are roughly 30 zooplankton species in the Laptev Sea.
Mosses and lichens are the most common flora found on the coast of the Laptev Sea, as well as the Arctic Poppy, Draba, and polar willows and creeping willows.
Mammals that can be found in Laptev Sea and on its coast include the bearded seal, the ringed seal, the walrus, the collared lemming, the harp seal, the Arctic fox, the wolf, the reindeer, the polar bear, the ermine, and the Artic hare.
Bird species that can be found in the Laptev Sea region include the purple sandpiper, the snowy owl, the Brent goose, the snowy bunting, the little auk, the black-legged kittiwake, the ivory gull, the loon, and several others.
Fish that can be found in Laptev Sea include sardines, Arctic ciscos, polar cods, flounder, Arctic char, polar smelts, graylings, broad whitefish, muksuns, omuls, and white fishes.
The largest settlement on the coast of Laptev Sea is Tiksi, with a population of roughly 5,870.


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