Kandalaksha Nature Reserve

Where the long and dark polar winter is replaced by a short summer with no setting sun, where the harsh shores are washed by the waters of two seas, the Barents Sea and the White Sea, the Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve is located on more than 550 islands. It was formed on September 7, 1932 to protect the common gaga-a sea duck that has long been famous for the valuable qualities of nest fluff.

The Kandalaksha Nature Reserve is one of the cultural and educational centers of the Russian northern ornithological science. Many specialists in seabirds and hydrobiology started their work here. The territory of the Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve is located in five administrative districts of the Murmansk region (Pechengsky, Kola, Lovozersky, Tersky, Kandalakshsky) and in Loukhsky district of the Republic of Karelia.

Most of the sites are marine archipelagos with adjacent water areas. Therefore, of the 78,608 ha of its area, 74.2 % falls on the sea, and the mass inhabitants are marine colonial birds. Thus, the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve can be considered the first marine reserve formed in the Of Russia.

You can get to Kandalaksha from Murmansk by train. The museum is located in the southern part of the city, the nearest bus stop "Koltsevaya" is located at the intersection of Linear and Kolkhoznaya streets, next to the Church of John the Baptist. It is served by bus number 1. From the bus stop to the museum, you will have to walk another 270 meters.