Belichy Island (russian: Беличий остров, ''Belichy Ostrov'', literally: "Squirrel Island") is a narrow island in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk, one of the Shantar Islands.

Geography

The island is 20.3 km in length, with a maximum width of about 5 km. It is covered in

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains fur ...

forests. Belichy Island is separated from Bolshoy Shantar Island to the north by Proliv Severo-Vostochny, from Maly Shantar Island to the west by Proliv Opasny, and from the mainland to the south by Lindholm Strait. To its east lies Academy Bay.

History

Belichy was frequented by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

whaleship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

s hunting bowhead whales between 1857 and 1889.''Mary Frazier'', of New Bedford, June 30, Aug. 24, 1857, June 27, July 1-2, 1859, Nicholson Whaling Collection; ''Florida'', of Fairhaven, Aug. 3, 1860, ''One Whaling Family'', Williams (1964); ''Java'', of New Bedford, June 27, 1866, Kendall Whaling Museum; ''E. F. Herriman'', of San Francisco, October 6, 1889, GBWL #761.

References

Shantar Islands Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk Islands of the Russian Far East Islands of Khabarovsk Krai {{KhabarovskKrai-geo-stub