The sea of Laptev (Russian : мо́реЛа́птевых), also called sea of Laptev , is a bordering Mer of the Arctic Ocean. It is delimited in the west by the Eastern coasts of the Siberian peninsula of Taïmyr and of the archipelago Severnaya Zemlya (or Ground of North) which separates it from the Mer of Kara, in the south by the coast of the central Siberia and in the east by the islands of New Siberian Islandss which separates it from the Mer of Eastern Siberia. Its septentrional limit is a line on the basis of the Cape Arctique on the island Komsomolets in the west (79°N and 139°E) to finish with the Cape Anisiy in the east. The surface of this sea covers 672  roughly; 000  km ².

It bears the exploring name of the S Russian Dimitri Laptev and Khariton Laptev, two cousins who, at the 18th century, explored and charted his coasts. In the beginning, it was called sea of Nordenscheld or Nordenskjöld. It is navigable from August at September. The average depth is of 50  meters for a maximum depth of 3  385 meters.

This sea receives water of the Lena, large Fleuve of Eastern Siberia which forms a Delta with its mouth. A little more in the west, at the edge it Peninsula of Taimyr, one finds the long estuary of the river Khatanga. These two shapes of estuary are symptomatic current fluctuations caused by the Siberian rivers in the sea of Laptev. Those determine also mainly the local Climat. With approximately 80  km in the west of Lena, the river Olenyok also flows in the sea of Laptev.

Often swept by strong strong gales, blizzards and snowstorms, the sea of Laptev is subjected to a hard climate in winter, and it is not rare that the fog and of the flurryes of snow also occur in summer. The sea is taken by the ices during the major part of the year, but the implementation of the Brise-glaces makes it possible to release the main port of this sea, Tiksi, close to the mouth of Lena. Among local fauna, one finds the Morse ( Odobenus rosmarus ), the bearded Phoque ( Erignathus barbatus ) and the marine Veau ( Phoca vitulina ).