Recent surveys conducted in the Barents and Kara seas have shown that they are among the cleanest in the world. This is despite the fact that offshore oil and gas projects are being implemented there. This has come from the Deputy Director of the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute Dmitry Ishkulov. He was speaking with the news agency TASS and said that the above conclusion had been reaffirmed during an expedition along the Northern Sea Route.

"The researchers who participated in the expedition took water and ice samples, which they tested for pollution. The results of these tests have reaffirmed that the Barents and Kara seas are among the cleanest in the world," Ishkulov said.

The researchers also conducted a number of other studies, the purpose of which was to collect information about the quality and composition of these seas' water and ice. For this purpose, they lowered special probes into the water and recorded the information which was collected. The equipment used is foreign-made. However, Russian companies are currently developing their own equipment.

The expedition sailed from Murmansk to Dudinka and back on board a research vessel that belongs to the Russian mining and metals giant, Norilsk Nickel.