The Yam Islands, Yamsky Islands or Yamskiye Islands (Ямские острова; Yamskiye Ostrova), is a small island group located close to the coast in the northern
Sea of Okhotsk.
Administratively the Yam Islands belong to the
Magadan Oblast of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
Geography
The Yam island group lies about 250 km east of
Magadan, only 10 km from the shores of the Pyagin Peninsula (Poluostrov P'yagina).
Islands
The main island is Matykil Island (Остров Матыкиль). It is 6 km long and has a width of 2.2 km. All the other islands are much smaller. The highest point in Matykil is 700 m.
The other islands of the group are: Atykan (Остров Атыкан), Baran (Остров Баран), Khatemalyu (Остров Хатемалью) and Kokontse (Остров Коконце).
History
Between 1852 and 1874,
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 ...
whaleships cruised around the islands for
bowhead whales.
Fauna
Steller sea lion
The Steller sea lion (''Eumetopias jubatus''), also known as the Steller's sea lion and northern sea lion, is a near-threatened species of sea lion in the northern Pacific. It is the sole member of the genus ''Eumetopias'' and the largest of ...
s occur on the islands,
while in the spring and summer millions of seabirds nest on the islands, including roughly six million
least auklet (possibly the largest colony in the world), over 900,000
northern fulmar
The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hem ...
, and tens of thousands of
parakeet auklet;
crested auklet also nest on the islands.
[Kondratyev, A. Y., Litvinenko, N. M., Shibaev, Y. V., Vyatkin, P. S., & Kondratyeva, L. F. (2000)]
The breeding seabirds of the Russian Far East
''Seabirds of the Russian Far East'', 37-81.
These islands are part of the Magandskiy
Zapovednik or protected bioregion of the Magadan area.
References
External links
Magadan Oblast
Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk
Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean
Islands of the Russian Far East
Archipelagoes of Magadan Oblast
{{MagadanOblast-geo-stub