The White Sea (Russian: Белое море, romanized: Beloye more; Karelian and Finnish: Vienanmeri, lit.

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the northern limit of the White Sea as "A line joining Svyatoy Nos (Murmansk Coast, 39°47'E) and Cape Kanin".

These bays connect with the funnel-shaped opening to the Barents Sea via a narrow strait called "Gorlo" (Russian: Горло, meaning "throat").

[3] Rivers bring annually about 215 km3 of fresh water, on average, mostly to the Onega, Mezen and Dvina bays.

The Northern Dvina alone may contribute up to 171 km3 in some years, with the Mezen, Onega, Kem and Vyg rivers adding up to 38.5, 27.0, 12.5 and 11.5 km3, respectively.

The inflow of fresh water in spring decreases the surface salinity in the top 5–10-metre layer to 23‰ (parts per thousand) in the eastern and 26–27‰ in the western parts of the sea, reaching 10–12‰ in Dvina Bay; it also increases the content of silicon and silicates in water, which is a characteristic feature of the White Sea.

[3] Residents of Novgorod knew of the White Sea from at least the 11th century and rapidly explored its commercial significance for navigation and its coastal forests rich in fur animals.

One of the earliest settlements near the sea shores grew up in the late 14th century at Kholmogory, on the Northern Dvina.

[6] Together with two other ships under the command of Hugh Willoughby, his crew had sought a northern route to the Indies, especially India and China.

The expedition, sponsored by King Edward VI of England and a group of about 240 English merchants, had London's authorisation to establish trade connections.

Returning from Russia in 1554, Chancellor brought back a detailed description of Moscow and the Russian north, which were largely unknown to Europe, as well as a letter from the Tsar expressing desire to establish trade relations with England.

In 1555 Queen Mary issued a charter authorising the Muscovy Company to trade with Russia via the White Sea route.

However, instead of expanding the old port, Ivan IV established a new one down-river in 1584, called New Kholmogory, which from 1596 began to become known as Arkhangelsk.

This role decreased later after the foundation of Saint Petersburg (1703), which opened a more direct ice-free connection between Russia and the bulk of Western Europe via the Baltic Sea.

Several other dolphin species, such as harbour porpoises, appear less frequently while larger whales such as bowhead, humpback[11] and rorquals, northern bottlenose, orcas have been considered as rare visitors to the waters[12] while actual frequency of occurrences within White Sea basin is not specified.

[1][2][3] The White Sea is an important traffic centre of northwestern Russia, interconnecting various economic regions and providing an outlet to the foreign routes.

The White Sea–Baltic Canal links it through Lake Onega to the Baltic Sea and the major city and port of Saint Petersburg.

The major ports on the White Sea are Arkhangelsk, Belomorsk, Onega, Mezen, Kem, Kandalaksha and Umba.