The Mezen Bay (russian: Мезенская губа) is located in

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solo ...

and

Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of ...

in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...

, the others being the

Dvina Bay The Dvina Bay (russian: Двинская Губа) is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Mezen Bay, the Onega Bay, and the Kandalaksha Gulf. The tw ...

, the

Onega Bay The Onega Bay (russian: Онежская губа, Онежский залив) is located in the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia, west of the city of Arkhangelsk. It is the southernmost of four large bays and g ...

, and the

Kandalaksha Gulf The Kandalaksha Gulf (, sms, Käddluhtt), fi, Kantalahti) is located in the Republic of Karelia, and Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia. Forming the north-western corner of the White Sea, it is one of four large bays and gulfs of this sea, ...

. The Mezen Bay is the easternmost of these, as it lies to the south of the Kanin Peninsula. Morzhovets Island lies at the entrance of the bay. The two main rivers emptying into the Mezen Bay are the Kuloy River, and the

Mezen River The Mezen (russian: Мезень) is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Mezen is one of the biggest r ...

. The area of the bay is . The Mezen Bay is long and wide. The tides in the Mezen Bay are up to high and are the biggest in the White Sea. The northern part of the bay, just south of Morzhovets Island, is crossed by the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

. Historically, the Mezen Bay was the fishing area. The pomors who populated the coast fished along it. A sudden change of the weather could drive them off-shore. In this case, Morzhovets island was the last land before they got driven off to the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terr ...

and perish, and thus was considered to be the last resort. Another traditional occupation of the pomors in the Mezen Bay was

seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Canada, Namibia, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Ice ...

. The south-western coast of the bay is known as ''Abramovsky Bereg'', and the eastern coast is known as ''Konushinsky Bereg''. The principal villages on the Abramovsky coast are Koyda and Dolgoshhelye, both of the Mezensky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast. On the Konushinsky Coast, the main villages are Yazhma and Chizha, both in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The entire coast of the Mezen Bay is included into a border security zone, intended to protect the borders of Russian Federation from unwanted activity. In order to visit the zone, a permit issued by the local FSB department is required. There was a project to construct a tidal power station, Mezenskaya Tidal Power Plant, in the Mezen bay which would exploit the great height of the tides. The project has not been realized.

References

{{Authority control Bays of Arkhangelsk Oblast Bays of the White Sea