File:Swirls of Sea Ice approaching Hokkaido, Japan (MODIS 2021-03-24).jpg

English: Stunningly beautiful swirls of sea ice floated in the Sea of Okhotsk in late March 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the scene on March 23. The drifting ice is tucked between Russia's southern Sakhalin Island (north) and Hokkaido Island, Japan.

Each winter the Sea of Okhotsk wears a mantle of ice, thanks to the bitterly cold winds that blow from Eastern Siberia. In addition, the Amur River spills freshwater into the saline Sea. This reduces the salinity and allows water to freeze at a warmer temperature than typical ocean water. This combination allows the Sea of Okhotsk to claim the prize for being one of the lowest latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere where substantial sea ice forms each year.

In the deepest part of winter, ice covers the Sea of Okhotsk and clings fast to the shoreline of Siberia and Sakhalin Island. As the sun angle increases and air temperatures warm in the springtime, the ice begins to thin and is carried southward by the Sakhalin Current which flows along the island’s east coast. The drifting ice moves towards Japan’s Hokkaido Island (seen in this image) by mid-January to February. Residents of the port town of Abashiri, located on the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, look forward to the arrival of “Ryuhyo” (“drift ice” in Japanese), celebrating with the annual Okhotsk Drift Ice Festival. This festival typically takes place in February but was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.