Shantar Islands

Shantar Islands Шантарские острова
Island group
Map of the Shantar Islands.
Location of the Shantar Islands in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Country	Russian Federation
Federal subject	Far Eastern Federal District
Krai	Khabarovsk Krai
Elevation	720 m (2,360 ft)

The Shantar Islands (Russian: Шантарские острова, Shantarskiye ostrova) are a group of fifteen islands located off the northwestern shore of the Sea of Okhotsk east of Uda Gulf and north of Academy Bay. Most of the islands have rugged cliffs, but they are of moderate height; the highest point in the island group is 720 metres.

The island group is administered by Russia as part of Khabarovsk Krai.

The islands are currently uninhabited but were known to the mainland Gilyak tribes for their fishing grounds.

The first recorded exploration of the Shantar Islands was in April 1640, when Russian explorer Ivan Moskvitin allegedly sailed to the mouth of the Amur River with a group of Cossacks and spotted the Shantar Islands on the way back. Moskvitin reported his discoveries to Prince Shcherbatov, the Muscovite voivode in Tomsk. Based on Ivan Moskvitin's account, the first Russian map of the Far East was drawn in March 1642. The Shantar Islands were also explored by Russian surveyors between 1711 and 1725.

American whaleships hunted bowhead whales around the Shantar Islands between 1852 and 1874. They anchored among the islands to send whaleboats into the bays to the south and west, including Uda,Tugur, and Ulban Bays. They sought shelter under Medvezhy, Malyy Shantar, and Feklistova Islands during storms as well as to obtain wood and water. At least three ships were wrecked on the islands: two on Medvezhy and one on Bolshoy Shantar during storms in October 1858.