Cape Opasnyy (Russian: Мыс Опасный, Mys Opasnyy) is a very prominent headland in Penzhina Bay, the right arm of Shelikhov Gulf, in the northeastern Sea of Okhotsk. It lies to the northwest of The Gorlo. A ledge projects about three quarters of a mile east-northeast of the headland, while a group of detached rocks lies about 1.2 miles north northeast of it.[1][2]

Cape Opasnyy
Cape Opasnyy is located in Kamchatka Krai
Cape Opasnyy
Cape Opasnyy
Coordinates: 61°42′N 163°20′E / 61.700°N 163.333°E / 61.700; 163.333
CountryRussian Federation
Federal subjectKamchatka Krai

Administratively Cape Opasnyy belongs to the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation.

History edit

American whaleships hunting bowhead whales frequented the waters off the cape from 1866 to 1889.[3][4] They called it Othello Cape,[5] and the ledge to its east-northeast Othello Reef,[6] both after a ship that visited the area in the early 1860s. They anchored under the cape and reef to seek shelter from southwesterly gales.[7] Boats went ashore after salmon[8] and wood,[9] and also to trade with the natives[10] from the nearby Koryak village of Big Itkana.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. (2014). Sailing Directions (Enroute): East Coast of Russia. U.S. Government, Springfield, Virginia.
  2. ^ United States Naval Oceanographic Office. (1952). Sailing Directions for the east coast of Siberia: Mys Otto Shmidta to Sakhalinskiy Zaliv, including Ostrov Vrangelya. United States Government Printing Office, Washington.
  3. ^ Sunbeam, of New Bedford, July 15-16, 1866, New Bedford Free Public Library (NBFL).
  4. ^ Emma F. Herriman, of San Francisco, July 2, 1889, GBWL #761.
  5. ^ Sea Breeze, of New Bedford, July 19, 1868, Old Dartmouth Historical Society (ODHS) #490A.
  6. ^ Northern Light, of New Bedford, August 18, 1883, GBWL #761.
  7. ^ Benjamin Cummings, of New Bedford, July 20, 1868, NBFL.
  8. ^ Benjamin Cummings, of New Bedford, June 30, 1869, NBFL.
  9. ^ Europa, of Edgartown, July 20, 1868, ODHS #303.
  10. ^ Sea Breeze, of New Bedford, August 5, 1868, ODHS #768A.
  11. ^ Jochelson, W. (1905). "The Koryak". The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VI. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History. Leiden/New York.