The White Sea

The White Sea is an inland sea on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Its surface area is about 90,000 km². In the winter it is covered with ice. The White Sea is quite shallow, with a mean depth of 67 m and a maximum depth of 350 m. The biggest bays are the Mezensky, Dvinsky, Onezhsky and Kandalakshsky. The biggest islands and island groups are the Solovetsky Islands, Morzhovets, and the Mudyugskiy islands. The following rivers flow into the White Sea: North Dvina, Onega and Mezen. According to average data, more than 112 km³ of fresh water pours into the White Sea annually. Commercial herring and navaga fisheries are well developed here. Seal hunting is good in these waters. The largest harbours in the White Sea are Arkhangelsk, Onega, Belomorsk, Kandalaksha, Kem, and Mezen. Tides fluctuate by 10 m, which justifies the building of power plants for the production of electricity.

The seawater in the open White Sea is classified as "clear." The major source of pollution of the coastal waters of the sea are rivers. The flow of the North Dvina into Dvina Bay alone brings annually some 700 million m³ of polluted water. Pollutants come from timber, fuel and energy industries, who discharge various petroleum derivatives, phenols and chlorinated organic pesticides. Sea transport also affects the purity of the seawaters, especially where the White Sea connects with the Barents Sea through the Gorlo Strait, where it joins the Baltic Sea through the Belomoro-Baltic canal and where it joins the Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea through the Volga-Baltic Waterway.