Where is Kandalaksha Bay? Description, features, photo

Where is Kandalaksha Bay? It is located in the north-west of the White Sea, between the southern coast of the Kola Peninsula (Kandalaksha coast) and the coast of Karelia. The length of this water area is 185 km, and the width at the entrance is 67 km. The shores of the gulf formed 10 thousand years ago, after the glacier retreat, are severely cut by small fjords (lips), hundreds of small islands-skerries and numerous underwater rocks are in the water area.

Characteristic

The Kandalaksha Bay has the deepest place in the White Sea. Deepening of 200 meters extends into the bottom from the side of the sea area. This place comes almost to the middle of the bay. In the western part of this hollow there is the deepest depression (343 m). However, such depths are more an exception than the rule. The average size of this water area is about 20 m, it decreases somewhat at the coast and reaches up to 10 m. Shallow water littoral - this is how you can characterize the Kandalaksha Gulf. The tides are usually 1.8-2 m, but there are also those that reach 3 m. The tidal wave comes from the White Sea throat, extending to the south and west. In summer, the water temperature averages 14-15 ° C, in small sheltered bays water can be heated to 25 ° C.

Climatic features

The climate of the bay is very unstable, the weather changes dramatically due to the movement of cyclones and frequent changes in wind direction. The influence of the Gulf Stream affects this area to a lesser extent than on the Murmansk coast. The average temperature in July is 13-14 ° C, in February - from -10 ° C to -12 ° C. The period without frosts lasts 110-120 days. The Kandalaksha Gulf is covered with ice during the cold years in the middle of October, in warm years - in December and even in early January. Melting usually occurs in May.

Development of the coast

The area of the Kola Peninsula was inhabited by people shortly after the melting of the glacier - in the VII-VI millennium BC. E., In the era of the Mesolithic. On the coast of the bay the oldest archaeological monuments date back to the early Iron Age. On the Bear Island in the XVII-XVIII centuries, silver was mined, but its reserves were small. Industrial development began after the construction in 1915-1916 of the Murmansk Railroad. On the shores in 1910-1938, active logging took place. Now an important transport route passes through the Kandalaksha Gulf, through which oil and other cargoes are transported. The large port of Kandalaksha is located on the western extremity of the water area.

Neighborhood

In 1932, the Kandalaksha Reserve was established in the waters of the bay and on the islands to protect the mass nesting grounds of the eider . In the future, the size of protected areas increased, reaching now 70 thousand hectares. Hunting in the water area was banned in 1957. Among the natural monuments of the coast and islands are the outcrops to the surface of the earth the oldest rocks, the age of 3 billion years.

Features

The shores of the bay are high and rocky, the average height of the rocks of the Karelian coast is 100-300 m, and Kandalaksha - 175-600 m. The tides in the Kandalaksha Bay have a certain character. Tidal flow comes from the White Sea. It moves to the north at a low speed. If you follow its direction, it will lead to the eastern side of the peninsula of Turia. The tidal current moves back to the tidal current.

Vegetable world

The coast of the water area is mostly covered with coniferous forests (mostly pine), at altitudes changing low shrubs. On the banks and islands grow more than 630 species of higher plants, which is 55% of the entire flora of the Murmansk region. Kandalaksha Bay is located at the junction of two floristic regions - the Northern European and Arctic regions. The reserve has identified 25 endemic plants, including the sunflower arctic, five species of marsh orchids, two species of ferns, the peony marin root. In addition, in the forests there are places covered with a venereal shoe (up to two or three thousand specimens in one plot) and another rare species of orchid - a leafless leopard.

Animal world

Fauna includes 170 species of mammals, 240 species of birds (including migratory birds), two species of reptiles and three - amphibians. Among the large animals - elk, bear, lynx, wolverine, wolf. Several bears live on the islands, regularly crossing the Kandalaksha Bay by swimming on the coast. Small predators: fox, ermine, marten marten, weasel, acclimatized in the north American mink. Fur animals are a white hare, living on the coast and wooded islands, and muskrat inhabiting lakes. In the waters of the bay live sea hares and ringed seals. Among the species of birds listed in the Red Book, there are eagles-white-tailed eagle, golden eagle, gyrfalcon, osprey, kestrel, eagle owl, white owl, white-cocked diver, crested cormorant, Barnacle goose, swan and mute swan, gray crane.

In the Kandalaksha Bay there are 30 species of fish, but their numbers are small. More often, White Sea cod is found, in the skerries there are spawning grounds of the White Sea herring. In the mouths of rivers, a river flounder lives, on the seabed - polar flounder. In lakes connected to the sea, live trout and trout, the latter for a long time fed in sea water.