Tidal currents can reach up to four knots in the northern part of Tugur Bay, causing whirlpools and eddies.

[10] On 28 July 1854, the bark Isabella, of New Bedford, reported that as many as 94 ships were visible from her deck while she was in the bay, only five of which were boiling oil.

Wilcox, was driven ashore by ice and wrecked on the east side of the bay near Cape Bersen'yeva.

[16][17][18] On 27 July 1867, a Russian steamer ordered the bark Java, of New Bedford, under Manuel Enos, out of the bay.

In 1865, they sold it to Otto Wilhelm Lindholm, who had erected a station on the eastern side of the mouth of the Tugur River at the head of the bay two years earlier, in 1863.

[22][23] American whaleships visited Mamga to sell goods and receive repairs from ice damage.

[25] In the summer beluga whales aggregate at the head of the bay to feed on spawning salmon in the Tugur River estuary.