Aniva Bay: location, climate, population, attractions

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Aniva - a bay on Sakhalin, surrounded by steep cliffs, the most developed part of the coastal waters of this island. Its name, translated from the Ainu language, means “standing surrounded by mountains”, which fully corresponds to the appearance of this place. Here, the Sea of Okhotsk juts deep into the land, and on the map the outline of the bay resembles the open mouth of a giant fish, which, according to many, Sakhalin Island looks like from above.

Location, nature, climatic conditions

The bay is located off the southern coast of Sakhalin Island and opens into the La Perouse Strait. The peninsulas framing it are called Tonino-Aniva and Crillon. They are very popular with lovers of natural beauty.

The greatest depth in Aniva Bay is 93 meters. Its width is a little more than 100 kilometers, the length of the coastline is 90 meters. The narrowed part in the north of the bay has a separate name - Salmon Bay.

Temperature andthe movement of water masses in Aniva Bay is largely determined by a warm current called Soya. The weather here, as, indeed, throughout Sakhalin, is quite changeable.

There are several rivers flowing into the bay: Lutoga, Susuya, Sigovka, Korsakovka, Tsunai and others.

The climate in Aniva Bay is characterized by experts as moderately cold. In summer the air temperature rises to +17…+19 °С, and in the coldest months it drops to -15…-16 °С. Average annual rate: +3, 2 C. This area is characterized by a large amount of precipitation even in the dry season. The average annual indicator is 808 mm. Their minimum number falls in March, the maximum - in August (33 and 113 mm, respectively).

Ebb and flow in Aniva Bay (Sakhalin Region)

These natural phenomena are a familiar sight for the inhabitants of the ocean coasts. Specialists draw up their schedules, taking into account the location of various settlements. Data on the ebb and flow in Aniva Bay are taken into account by many local residents in their plans. In the video below, you can see what the coast looks like here at low tide.

Population

This bay, compared to other places on Sakhalin, is quite densely populated. Here, in addition to other settlements, there are two cities: Korsakov and the same name - Aniva.

The first of them has a little over 33 thousand inhabitants, the second - about 9.5 thousand. The cities are the centers of the districts of the same name on the Sakhalinareas. Aniva, being, like the whole of Sakhalin south of the 50th parallel, part of Japan from 1905 to 1945 (46), was called Rutaka during this period. Korsakov was called Otomari. Both settlements, according to the law, are equated to the regions of the Far North.

They are more than 8 thousand kilometers from the capital, and the time difference with Moscow is 8 hours.

Lighthouse in Aniva Bay

This abandoned lighthouse is the bay's main attraction. It was erected on the Sivuchya rock at Cape Aniva in 1939. The lighthouse was built over the course of three years. The architect was Japanese engineer Shinobu Miura. The construction cost 600,000 yen. People worked at the lighthouse until 1990, after which it was equipped with isotope facilities and operated autonomously until 2006. After the equipment was removed, it was abandoned. Restoration was to begin in 2015. At the moment, the lighthouse is abandoned and continues to deteriorate, despite the efforts of volunteers to preserve it.

Ecology

The bay is extremely rich in commercial fish and crabs. Among them are cod, flounder, herring, salmon breeds. According to scientists from the universities of Tomsk and other cities of the world, the fauna of the bay can serve as an indicator of the state of nature not only in these places, but also in the entire Far Eastern region. So, recently, fishermen's nets in the bay began to get fish species uncharacteristic for this area, such as, for example, white, blue and whale sharks, Japanese pikeperch, pike eel and others, usuallyliving further south, in warmer waters. At the same time, there is much less pink salmon in the waters, which is traditionally one of the main commercial species in the bay. This indicates, first of all, global warming and, accordingly, a change in the food supply of fish. In addition, one of the world's largest liquefied gas plants operates in the bay. What is the impact of this object and the ports of the bay on the ichthyofauna, and whether it exists, scientists have yet to find out. With the help of monitoring, it is supposed to find out which of the species are able to recover on their own, and which ones need human help.

Interesting facts

• Aniva Bay was visited by A. P. Chekhov during his trip to Sakhalin in 1890. On the site of the future city of Korsakov, there was then the Korsakov post (the administrative center of the southern district), which Chekhov described as "having a decent view of the town from the sea", which, according to him, had special external features, probably caused by the influence of traditional Japanese architecture.
• In the bay, south of the village called Novikovo, in July 1995, 69 shells were found, and not rusty, from the time of the war, but practically new. As a result of the investigation, it was found that a month before they were disposed of by flooding. However, it was carried out in violation of the instructions. The requirements for the distance from the coast and the depth of flooding were not met. This unfortunate fact led to the fact that the bottom of Aniva Bay was literally littered with a lot of ammunition lying onrelatively shallow depth.
• Aniva Lighthouse was included in 2018 by The Atlantic, an American publication, in the list of the 35 most impressive abandoned structures in Russia. Perhaps this fact will help draw attention to this object.