, , or
(sometimes anglicized as the ''Kvænang Fjord'') is a
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
in
Troms
Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The fjord runs through
Skjervøy Municipality
Skjervøy Municipality (, ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Skjervøy (village), town of Skjervøy on the island of Skjervøya ...
and
Kvænangen Municipality
Kvænangen (; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. Other notable villages in the municipality include Alteide ...
.
Geography
The long fjord stretches from the
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...
to the village of
Kvænangsbotn. The
Reisafjorden is a large fjord which branches off the Kvænangen fjord to the west and the
Badderfjorden branches off to the east. The
European route E06
European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...
highway crosses the fjord on the
Sørstraumen Bridge where the fjord is only about wide, just west of the village of
Sekkemo.
There are a number of islands in the fjord. On the west side of the fjord are the islands of
Arnøya
or is the List of islands of Norway by area, 15th largest island in Norway. The island is located in Skjervøy Municipality in Troms county. The highest peak is the tall mountain Arnøyhøgda. There are regular ferry connections to the island ...
,
Laukøya,
Skjervøya, and
Kågen. The smaller islands of
Haukøya,
Rødøya,
Skorpa,
Nøklan, and
Spildra are located in the middle of the fjord.
Wildlife
Although not in large numbers,
cetacean
Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...
s are known to live in or to visit the fjord.
Harbour porpoise
The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...
s and
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s are more commonly observed, and larger species such as
minke whale
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish na ...
s,
sperm whale
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...
s, and
beluga whales can also be seen. In recent years,
humpback whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...
s started making comebacks to local waters to feed, and there had been a rare observation of a critically endangered
North Atlantic right whale
The North Atlantic right whale (''Eubalaena glacialis'') is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena'', all of which were formerly classified as a single species. Because of their docile nature, their sl ...
that have become possibly functional extinct in eastern North Atlantic, stayed for several weeks in the fjord, indicating this area was once a part of historical feeding ground for right whales as well.
See also
*
List of Norwegian fjords
This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords.
Fjords
See also
* List of gla ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvaenangen (fjord)
Fjords of Troms
Kvænangen
Skjervøy