Siberian Shelf Siberian Shelf The Siberian Shelf, one of the Arctic Ocean coastal shelves (such as the Milne Ice Shelf), is the largest continental shelf of the Earth, a part of the continental shelf of Russia. It extends from the continent of Eurasia in the general area of North Siberia (hence the name) into the Arctic Ocean. It stretches to offshore. It is relatively shallow, with average depth of 100 m. A number of islands are within the shelf, including the Wrangel Island, Novaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. It is encompassed by the Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and East Siberian
East Siberian Sea ("Eschrichtius robustus"), beluga ("Delphinapterus leucas") and narwhal ("Monodon monoceros"). Major fish species are grayling and "Coregonus" (whitefishes), such as muksun ("Coregonus muksun"), broad whitefish ("Coregonus nasus") and omul ("Coregonus autumnalis"). Also common are polar smelt, saffron cod, polar cod, flounder and Arctic char. The coast of the East Siberian Sea was inhabited for ages by the native peoples of northern Siberia such as Yukaghirs and Chukchi (eastern areas). Those tribes were engaged in fishing, hunting and reindeer husbandry, as reindeer sleds were essential for transportation and hunting. They were joined and absorbed by Evens and Evenks around the 2nd century