Tidal currents can reach four or five knots and create a large whirlpool between Cape Tyl'sky and Medvezhy Island.

[7] The barque Louisa, of New Bedford, reported as many as fifty ships in sight in the bay at one time, ten of which were boiling oil.

[9][10] On 18 September 1864, the barque Mary (287 tons), of New Bedford, was wrecked in Northeast Harbor, on the north side of the bay, during a gale.

Her captain, Edwin P. Thompson, traveled to the Russian whaling station Mamga in Tugur Bay, where she was sold at auction for between $970 and $1,100 to Otto Wilhelm Lindholm.

The second mate and four men guarded the wreck during the winter, and the following spring Lindholm salvaged what valuables he could before setting her afire.

[10][5][11] Russian schooners and boat crews from Tugur and Mamga also cruised for bowheads in the bay from 1863 to 1874.