Two of the largest canyons in the world are found not on
land, but deep in the Bering Sea.
Situated between Alaska and Russia, Zhemchug and Pribilof canyons—both larger than Arizona’s Grand Canyon—cut into the slope along a several-hundred-mile stretch of the continental shelf break that is so productive scientists named it the “Green Belt.”1,2’ Here, nutrient-rich waters flow up from the deep to help create one of the richest ecosystems on the planet—home to ocean albatross and kittiwakes, orcas, walrus and fur seals, king crab, squid, salmon, cold water corals, and a near countless variety of marine life.
