An expedition to the White Sea within Karelia, conducted within state-ordered research theme "Integrated Studies of Estuarine Areas and Coastal Waters of the White Sea under Changing Climate and Human Impact", has recently been completed. The fieldwork took place in Soroka Bay of the White Sea, in the Nizhny Vyg estuary, near the town of Belomorsk. The expedition lasted a total of five days, from March 6 to March 10.

The trip was organized by specialists of the Northern Water Problems Institute of the Karelian Research Centre (NWPI KarRC RAS) and additionally involved employees of the Marine Hydrophysical Institute (MHI RAS) – one of the world leaders in oceanology research, based in Sevastopol. The expedition was led by Head of the Geography and Hydrology Laboratory NWPI KarRC RAS Aleksey Tolstikov.


Aleksey Tolstikov, Head of Geography and Hydrology Laboratory NWPI KarRC RAS

- This expedition was part of a state assignment. We have conducted research in Soroka Bay of the White Sea before, but this time our team used more instruments, - shared Aleksey Tolstikov. – Also, for the first time, specialists from our institute were joined by people from the MHI RAS.

The goal of the study was to investigate the thermo-hydrodynamic and biogeochemical regimes of the Nizhny Vyg River estuary under the impact of wintertime tidal processes. The results of the expedition will be presented at the All-Russian scientific conference with international participation "The Hydrosphere: Research and Sustainable Management Agenda", scheduled for October 2026 and dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the NWPI KarRC RAS and the 80th anniversary of the KarRC RAS.



This expedition is a continuation of long-term activities conducted by specialists from the NWPI KarRC RAS at the White Sea. In 2025, the institute’s staff also surveyed the Nizhny Vyg estuary to assess the ecological situation in the area and predict changes that growing shipping via the White Sea–Baltic Canal may induce.




Expedition participants