Bering Sea
Reality TV series set in Nome, Alaska, on Norton Sound.
Bering Sea Gold (also known as Gold Divers in the UK) is an American reality television series, set in Nome, Alaska, on Norton Sound, that airs on Discovery Channel. It is from the creators of the Deadliest Catch reality TV show. The show is divided into the summer dredging season (aired in the spring), under the title Bering Sea Gold, and the spring dredging season (aired in the fall), under the title Bering Sea Gold: Under The Ice. For the first three seasons, this distinction held; in the 2015 4th season of the spring ice dredging season, the title card changed to "Bering Sea Gold", making the title identical to the original summer dredging season show. This continued with the 2016 5th seasons.
- Area
- Over 2,000,000 square kilometers (770,000 sq mi)
- Named after
- Vitus Bering
- First European explorer
- Vitus Bering (1728)
- Borders
- Alaska, Russian Far East, Kamchatka Peninsula, Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands
- Connects to
- Arctic Ocean via Bering Strait
- Largest submarine canyon
- Zhemchug Canyon
- Annual U.S. fishery value
- Approximately $1 billion
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
In 2012, one of the featured divers on the show, John Bunce, committed suicide during the course of filming the season. The incident aired in 2013. On March 11, 2020, it was announced that the fourteenth season will premiere on April 1, 2020. The Martinson mining family, shown as background characters on Bering Sea Gold, was featured in Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue.
Reader's Guide
The show follows boats equipped with various setups to achieve gold mining in a summertime, cold northern latitude, shallow water, ocean environment. The fleet each typically consists of a sluicing apparatus, a means of paydirt collection (dredge), and a cold-water-diving life support system. Conflict issues include choppy seas, poor underwater visibility, inconsistent fuel delivery, personnel issues, mining location rights, sufficient paydirt discovery, diver safety, and ocean-damaged equipment failures. Each season of episodes follow the current fleet of dredges. The "ice" series follows dredges housed in temporary shelters set up over ice holes. Several crew members have appeared in both the summer dredging and spring ice dredging seasons. With the popularity of the show, it has inspired many people to head to Nome, and suction dredge in Norton Bay. In 2015, over 100 gold dredges operated in the summer sea mining season, significantly more than before the TV show started.
Did You Know?
- The show is also known as Gold Divers in the UK.
- In 2012, featured diver John Bunce committed suicide during filming; the incident aired in 2013.
- The fourteenth season was announced to premiere on April 1, 2020.
- The Martinson mining family, background characters on Bering Sea Gold, appeared on Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue.
- In 2015, over 100 gold dredges operated in the summer sea mining season, significantly more than before the TV show started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Bering Sea?
Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean that, together with the Bering Strait, draws the continental boundary between Eurasia and the Americas. It is named for Vitus Bering, the Danish-born Russian navigator who became the first European to chart its waters systematically in 1728.
What are Bering Sea's powers/role?
Stretching over two million square kilometers, the sea sustains one of the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth and fuels major commercial fisheries. It also serves as the sole maritime corridor linking the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific through the Bering Strait.
How does Bering Sea's story end?
As a living geographic feature rather than a narrative character, Bering Sea has no fixed ending; its waters continue to shift with ocean currents and climate change. Its coastal communities in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and the Russian Far East remain deeply tied to its ever-changing tides and fish stocks.
Why is Bering Sea important?
It is the natural dividing line between two continents and the only open-water passage connecting the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Its extraordinarily rich marine ecosystem supports some of the world's most valuable fisheries, making it both ecologically and economically indispensable.
What is Bering Sea's most notable feature?
The Zhemchug Canyon is recognized as the largest submarine canyon in the sea. Bering Sea also commands a vast and varied coastline spanning the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, and the Kamchatka Peninsula.
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