Interannual dynamics of the summer population of sea birds in the offshorewaters of the northern Sea of Okhotsk

The quantitative distribution of birds in the northern Sea of Okhotsk in th e summer of 1997 is discussed. The data obtained are compared with similar information collected in other years. The northeastern part of the Sea of O khotsk is considered a region with the most stable high concentrations of b irds. In 1997, probably in connection with the strengthening of the Sredinn oe Current, prerequisites for the formation of the conditions favorable for feeding birds in the waters of the Deryugin Basin developed, where, for th e first time, great stocks of the Procellariiformes birds were encountered.