Kandalaksha Preserve

located on the islands and small areas of the continental coast of Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea, as well as the Murmansk coast of the Barents Sea (the Sem’ Ostrovov Archipelago, with the adjacent areas of the continent and Ainov Islands).

The Kandalaksha Preserve was formed in 1951 by combining two preserves, Kandalaksha and Sem’ Ostrovov, which had been created in 1932 and 1938, respectively, to protect the nesting areas of seabirds, particularly the eider. The area of the Kandalaksha Preserve was about 29, 000 hectares (ha) in 1970. There are famous rookeries on the steep and rocky shores of Kharlov and Kuvshin Islands, where murres, kittiwakes, razorbills, and black guillemots nest. On all the protected islands of the White and Barents seas there are numerous eiders and various gulls. On the islands of the Barents Sea alone, the number of eider nests increased from 500 in 1939 to 7, 200 in 1970. On many islands of the Barents Sea there are the largest puffin colonies in the USSR, as well as the breeding grounds of the rare hooded seal. The islands of the Kandalaksha Preserve, including Olenii, Riazhkov, Anisimov, Lodeinyi, Medvezh’i, Lomnishnye, Vachev, Velikii, and Kem’ludskii, are covered with pine and spruce forest and, less frequently, with birch and aspen. The underbrush includes alder, ash, willow, and juniper. Elk, fox, marten, blue hare, squirrel, capercaillie, and hazel hen are common on Velikii Island (7, 000 ha) and on coastal areas of the White Sea; lynx, brown bear, wolverine, and other taiga dwellers are also found. The islands of the Barents Sea are covered with tundra.