It is the northwestern arm of Shelikhov Bay in the northeast corner of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The coast is steep and rocky and there are no completely safe anchorages within the bay.

221 km (137 mi) long river Gizhiga flows into the head of the bay.

In the winter, northwest winds prevail, which are interrupted by blizzards from the northeast.

[6] American whaleships hunted bowhead and gray whales in the bay from the 1860s to 1900.