Yam Islands Ямские острова | |
|---|---|
Island group | |
 Khatemalyu Island. | |
  Yam Islands | |
| Coordinates:59°15′N155°29′E / 59.250°N 155.483°E /59.250; 155.483 | |
| Country | Russian Federation |
| Federal subject | Far Eastern Federal District |
| Oblast | Magadan Oblast |
| Elevation | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
TheYam Islands,Yamsky Islands orYamskiye Islands (Ямские острова; Yamskiye Ostrova), is a small island group located close to the coast in the northernSea of Okhotsk. Administratively the Yam Islands belong to theMagadan Oblast of theRussian Federation.
The Yam island group lies about 250 km east ofMagadan, only 10 km from the shores of the Pyagin Peninsula (Poluostrov P'yagina).[1]
The main island isMatykil 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.[2][3]
The other islands of the group are:Atykan (Остров Атыкан),Baran (Остров Баран),Khatemalyu (Остров Хатемалью) andKokontse (Остров Коконце).
Between 1852 and 1874,Americanwhaleships cruised around the islands forbowhead whales.[4]
Steller sea lions occur on the islands,[5] while in the spring and summer millions of seabirds nest on the islands, including roughly six millionleast auklet (possibly the largest colony in the world), over 900,000northern fulmar, and tens of thousands ofparakeet auklet;crested auklet also nest on the islands.[6]
These islands are part of the MagandskiyZapovednik or protected bioregion of the Magadan area.
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