page_title: Norwegian Sea
section_title: Mammals and birds
hierarchical_section_title: Norwegian Sea / Flora and fauna / Mammals and birds
caption_attribution_description: BoreoAtlantic Armhook Squid Gonatus fabricii
context_page_description: The Norwegian Sea is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea. It joins the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a submarine ridge running between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. To the North, the Jan Mayen Ridge separates it from the Greenland Sea.
  Unlike many other seas, most of the bottom of the Norwegian Sea is not part of a continental shelf. It is at a great depth of about two kilometres on average. Rich deposits of oil and natural gas are found under the sea bottom and are being explored commercially. The coastal zones are rich in fish that visit the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic for spawning. The warm North Atlantic Current gives stable and high water temperatures, so that unlike the Arctic seas, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free throughout the year.
context_section_description: Large numbers of minke, humpback, sei, and orca whales are present in the Norwegian Sea. White-beaked dolphins are in the coastal waters. Orcas and some other whales visit the sea in the summer months for feeding. They follow the herring schools within the sea. With a total population of about 110,000, minke whales are by far the most common whales in the sea. They are hunted by Norway and Iceland, with a quota of about 1,000 per year in Norway. In contrast to the past, mostly they are hunted for their meat, rather than fat and oil.
  The bowhead whale used to be in the area. It almost disappeared from the Norwegian Sea after intense whaling in the 19th century, and was temporarily extinct in the entire North Atlantic. Similarly, the blue whale used to form large groups between Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen, but is hardly present nowadays. Seeing northern bottlenose whales in the Norwegian Sea is rare. Other large animals of the sea are hooded and harp seals and squid.
  Important waterfowl species of the Norwegian Sea are puffin, kittiwake and guillemot.
caption: Armhook squid Gonatus fabricii
exif: {}