In the north-eastern part of the Sea of Japan is the picturesque Posyet Gulf. Geographically, it is the southern end of Peter the Great Bay. This place is known for its interesting relief of the coastline: the entire bay is divided into picturesque bays and bays between them.
Discovery story
The story of the discovery of Posyet Bay is rather unusual. It was opened several times and mapped under various names.
The bay was first recorded in 1852 by an expedition on the French Caprice corvette. Then the French put it on the map as the Gulf of D'Anville, in honor of the famous cartographer.
Two years later, members of the expedition, led by Vice Admiral E. V. Putyatin, who was following on two vessels, frigate "Pallas" and schooner "Vostok", described the bay in detail and again noted its coordinates. Then, in honor of one of the members of the expedition, captain-lieutenant K.N. Posyet, the bay received his name.
A little over a year passed, and already the crew of the Anglo-French ships again marked the bay on the map and called it Napoleon's Raid. Historians believe that this name was given to the bay in honor of the French battleship Napoleon.
And a few years later, in 1862, Posyet Bay was again explored and re-marked on the map. This was done by the scientists of the expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel of the naval marshals V. M. Babkin.
The unusual beauty of small bays
The length of the bay is more than 1000 km 2 , and along the entire length of the coastline consists of small, unusual bays. Each of them is peculiar and unique.
The northern coast of Posyet Bay is quite mountainous, several peninsulas crashed directly into the water: Novgorodsky, Krabbe and Gamova. They are connected with the mainland by narrow and low isthmuses. With the onset of winter, water in this part of the bay is covered with ice. Closer to the south, the water does not freeze, only sometimes drifting ice floes come across.
In the west of the bay are located Expedition Bay, Pallas Raid and Novgorod. In terms of relief, the Novgorod Bay is most interesting; it is literally assembled from small capes and bays.
Novgorod Bay is rather shallow, the average depth is not more than 4-5 meters. Along its shores, especially near the west coast, algae grow in abundance. This attracts numerous schools of fish here. Thanks to this, Novgorod Bay is considered one of the most popular fishing spots in Posyet Bay.
In the very south of the bay is the picturesque bay of Kalevala. Due to its location, as well as the fact that it is part of the reserve, it still has preserved the beauty untouched by man. There are several large bird nests and seal rookeries that are absolutely not afraid of people.
In order to get into this bay, you need to get a special pass.
The protected shores of the bay
A fairly large part of the coast of Posyet Bay is part of the Far Eastern Marine Biosphere State Nature Reserve. The reserve territory covers almost the entire Gulf of Peter the Great, including Pemzovaya, Kalevala and Sivuchya bays.
A reserve was created to preserve and increase the populations of many fish and shellfish. In particular, in the bays of Posyet Bay, they reproduce some species of endangered mollusks: giant oysters, trepang and scallops. More than 350 species of birds nest on the shores of the reserve. Their number is really huge. Moreover, several species of birds noted here are listed in the Red Book.
Visiting protected areas, even for scientific research, is possible only for a short time and with the special permission of the reserve's management. However, this does not prevent some fishermen from illegally fishing here. Therefore, there are so many flooded seines at the bottom of Posyet Bay, whose coordinates are not known to anyone.
The southernmost port of Russia
The port village of Posyet, which is the southernmost port of Russia, is located on the coast of the Novgorod Bay. Nowadays, it is a very small village, the number of inhabitants of which does not exceed 1700 people. Almost the entire adult population of the village works in the local commercial port.
A small surprise is the district museum located on one of the central streets, which exhibits exhibits found in the Primorsky Territory. Despite the fact that the museum is located in a small building of pre-revolutionary construction, its exposition is impressive.
Through the efforts of local enthusiasts, here you can see household items of ancient people, medieval tools, objects of the Jurchen era and wartime finds.
The origin of tourism
Despite the fact that autumn and winter are rather severe in these parts, this does not scare away curious travelers. And in the warm season, when the water in the bays warms up to + 24 ° C, and an abundance of mushrooms and berries appears in the forests, the bay becomes a busy place.
For the convenience of travelers, there are several relatively comfortable recreation facilities. Although the unique nature, the wonderful beauty of the bay and the ability to take stunning photos of the Gulf of Posset attract more tourists every year.