part of the Arctic Ocean, bounded by Wrangel Island (west), northeastern Siberia and northwestern Alaska (south), the Beaufort Sea (east), and the Arctic continental slope (north). It has an area of 225,000 square miles (582,000 square km) and an average depth of 253 feet (77 m). The sea is navigable between July and October both eastward and westward from the shallow Bering Strait, and ice-bearing currents flow southeastward along the Siberian coast. Seals of several species and walrus are indigenous, and whales and many seabirds are summer visitors.