TheTemperate Northern Pacific is abiogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate waters of the northernPacific Ocean.[1]
The Temperate Northern Pacific connects, via theBering Sea, to theArctic marine realm, which includes the polar waters of theArctic Ocean. To the south, it transitions to the tropical marine realms of the Pacific, including theTropical Eastern Pacific along the Pacific coast of the Americas, the Eastern Indo-Pacific in the central Pacific Ocean, and theCentral Indo-Pacific of the western Pacific basin. TheTaiwan Strait forms the boundary between the Temperate Northern Pacific and the Central Indo-Pacific.[1]
Characteristic fauna include the Pacific salmon and trout(Oncorhynchus spp.),gray whale(Eschrichtius robustus), andNorth Pacific right whale(Eubalaena japonica).
Coastal waters are home tokelp forests. Kelp forests extend along the west coast of North America from Alaska to Baja California.[2] Kelp are largebrown algae which anchor to the sea floor. The dominant species are giant kelp (Macrocystis sp.), which can grow up to 60 metres (200 ft) tall, forming the canopy of the kelp forest and bouyed by air bladders or pneumatocysts at the base of their leaf-like blades. Bull kelp (Nereocystis sp.) is another common canopy species.[3] Species ofSaccharina,Laminaria, andEualaria fistulosa are the predominant kelp species along the coasts of the Russian Far East and Japan.[4]Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are native to kelp forests of the Temperate Northern Pacific, ranging from theKuril Islands to Southern California.[3]
The Temperate Northern Pacific is further subdivided into marine provinces, and the marine provinces divided into marine ecoregions:[1]