Kandalaksha Gulf

Kandalakscha Bay

Kandalakscha Bay

The Kandalakscha Bay (Russian Кандалакшский залив, Finnish Kantalahti, literal meaning: " The Gulf of the river Kanda ") is the northwestern corner of the White Sea.

It is one of four large bays of the White Sea. It borders with the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia. The Kola Peninsula is located north of Kandalakscha Bay.

In the bay there are hundreds of small islands. At its western end the Kandalakscha Bay reaches a depth of 300 m, the inner part of the bay, however, is shallow.

The largest islands in the Bay are Kandalakscha: Rjaschkow, Oleni, Wolei, Veliky, Sidorov, Keret and Peschostrow.

Inflows into the bay: Umba, Pila, Porja, Kolwiza, Luwenga, Niwa, Luptsche - Savino, Kanda, Kowda and Keret.

The city Kandalakscha located on the northern end of the bay; the new oil port Witino about 10 km south of it.

The Kandalakscha Nature Reserve (Russian Кандалакшский заповедник ) covers parts of the coastline of the bay as well as many of the past in the Bay Islands. These form an important breeding area for eiders and other sea birds.