The Cossack Simon Dezhneff is thought to have made a voyage, in the summer of 1648, from the river Kolyma, through Bering Strait (which was rediscovered by Vitus Bering in 1728) to Anadyr.
Several attempts were also made to navigate the sea from the Lena to the Kolyma.
In the season of 1740 he continued his voyage to beyond the Kolyma, wintering at Nizhni Kolymsk.
The bays of the Kolyma, the Chaun and Kolyuchin are of little importance.
The New Siberia islands are occasionally visited by hunters, as is also the small group of the Bear Islands opposite the mouth of the Kolyma.