The White Sea

In the school we were taught that the Gulf Stream keeps the Arctic Ocean free of ice even during the coldest winters. The same is not true for the White Sea as the name implies. However since the open sea is relatively close and a fleet of powerful ice breakers can be used, the White Sea and its coastal cities are important for the sea freight of northwestern Russia.

Well, I need not to worry about the ice anymore. The sea has been ice-free for weeks already and actually the mild winter of 2015-16 has kept unusually large areas of the White Sea open. In fact it would be very suitable to cross the sea with a boat as the local fishermen, merchants and whalers among other have done for centuries. One certain destination for all of them has been the big island of Solovetsky.

The White Sea and specifically its islands are harbouring many important Russian orthodox monasteries, but the best known and the largest one is certainly Solovetsky (image by VladNes). Right now I realize that this place will really be hard one to leave without hours of sightseeing treks on the island.

The nearly six centuries of history which this monastery has, have left many traces on the islands and - I am sure - also on the continental shores of the sea. This can be seen already on the neighboring islands of Solovetsky. Most of the islands do not have any permanent inhabitants anymore, but ruins of hermit huts and shrines tell that things used to be different in the past. One still living up to date is the south-eastern island of Little Muksalma where a settlement of kelp collectors gets more population as soon as the sea opens in the spring (image below by pgonchar).

The seaweed is source of many minerals and commonly eaten fresh, dried, or canned. The price however is not yet meeting the efforts needed for the collection. Therefore tourism is still the most important source of income for the islanders. There are scheduled hydrofoil boat connections from a few coastal cities to the island. There is even an airport for small passenger planes flying from Archangelsk. The Solovetsky island has been a UNESCO world heritage site since year 1992.

There are also signs of much older settlers or at least visitors on the islands. Peculiar stone heaps and labyrinths can be seen on most of the islands but they are especially numerous on the Great Zayatsky island. Stone age monuments are not uncommon in other northern countries, but nowhere else are they so many and so well preserved as here.

The photo above shows one of roughly 35 known labyrinths on the islands (photo by ATrotskiy). The exact age or the function of these monuments is not known. The many nature trails on the islands are well maintained and the boardwalks look very new. Hopefully the annual tourist amount will be manageable so that the ancient and even more recent treasures of the islands are preserved for future generations.

Continuing eastwards from the islands the 65th parallel hits next the northern part of the Onega Peninsula. The coast line has at this point an unusually wide sandy beach dotted with small pine trees and sea polished rocks. A number of boat and fishing gear shelters reveal that we arrive in a fishing village. Letnyaya Zolotitsa has about 70 houses and the inhabitants all are either retired or working in fishing and kelp harvesting. There are also small fields to provide for the agricultural supplement for the daily diet. You certainly would not expect to find a nice hotel in such an small and hard to visit place, but here you have just that.

Most of the villages on the peninsula are quite isolated form the rest of the country. There are bumpy dirt roads going along the shoreline but boats and especially small airplanes are important means for traveling.

The airport of Letnyaya Zolotitsa (image by sergey sam). Typical aircraft in this region is the Antonov-2, which can operate from small, uneven runways. Those who have experienced a flight onboard an An-2, say the airborne time is equally uneven and also noisy. The flights go to White Sea cities of Onega and Archangelsk. One consequence of the flight connections is the spacious and  modern hotel in the village.

The Onega Peninsula is relatively large and the central parts have lakes, hills and old forests but no permanent settlements. In the spring time there are many small rivers channeling the melt waters to sea. During summer months they run almost dry.

On the opposite shore we find another fishing village called Lopshenga. It is much larger as the venue of our previous visit. Actually majority of the houses belong to the fishing collective Zarya which sell fish, and seafood fresh, frozen and canned.

Lopshenga on the eastern shore of the Onega Peninsula (photo by Anton Maizerov). The back of the camera is pointing to east where the great landmass of Eurasian Russia awaits us.