The cold Barents Sea, bordering the Arctic Ocean, cannot boast of a wide variety of living creatures living in it. This is due to the harsh climate – not all marine life is able to survive in such cold water. And this sea is also suitable for navigation only to a limited extent, because the winters here are frosty and very, very long.
Interesting facts about the Barents Sea
- Its southeastern part is often distinguished into a separate sea – Pechora.
- The depth of the Barents Sea at its deepest point does not exceed 600 meters, and its average depth is almost three times less.
- In winter it is completely, with the exception of the southwestern part covered with ice.
- The area of the Barents Sea is twice the area of Turkey (interesting facts about Turkey).
- Before the Second World War, the only country that had a port in the Barents Sea was Finland.
- This sea got its name in honor of the Dutch explorer Willem Barents.
- The Barents Sea borders, in addition to the Northern Ocean, with three other seas – White, Norwegian and Kara (interesting facts about the Kara Sea).
- The tides here are quite high. So, off the coast of the Kola Peninsula, their height exceeds 6 meters.
- The Barents Sea is entirely located beyond the Arctic Circle.
- Due to winds and currents, the air temperature over the waters of the Barents Sea is higher than over other northern seas.
- The waters of the Barents Sea are completely renewed in 4 years.
- From – due to the collision of warm winds from the Atlantic and cold winds from the Arctic over it, destructive storms often rage here.
- Of all the seas washing Europe, it is the Barents Sea that is one of the cleanest. Nevertheless, the destructive activity of poachers poses a threat to the local ecology (interesting facts about ecology).
- The most dangerous time for navigation in the Barents Sea is April. This month, floating icebergs occupy up to 75% of its total area.
- In the hottest summer months, the surface layers of water in the south of the Barents Sea sometimes warm up to +10-12 degrees.
- The waters of the Barents Sea the seas are polluted by nuclear waste processing plants belonging to Norway (interesting facts about Norway).
- The king crabs brought here perfectly adapted to the new conditions and began to multiply rapidly.