Earth observation views of Hokkaido,Japan taken from OV-105 during STS-99

STS099-722-077 (11-22 February 2000) ---Both topography and bathymetry combine with wind and sea currents to produce a pattern of sea ice in the extreme southern Sea of Okhotsk, in this scene photographed by one of the STS-99 crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The rugged shoreline of north Hokkaido and the Kurile Archipelago have channeled northerly winds and surface waters into a gyre here, clearly depicted in the pattern of sea ice.