Baffin Bay

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Baffin Bay, lying between Nunavut, Canada and Greenland.
Baffin Bay

An iceberg at the edge of the Baffin Bay's sea ice.

Not to be confused with Baffin Bay, Texas.

Baffin Bay (French: Baie de Baffin) is a sea between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. It is 1,130 km (700 mi) across from north to south. It is not navigable most of the year because of the presence of large numbers of icebergs.

[edit] History

In 1585 British explorer John Davis was the first European to enter the bay. William Baffin made five voyages to the Arctic and reached Baffin Bay in 1616. During these voyages it was proven that the Northwest Passage was not in the Hudson Bay area.^[1]

Baffin Bay was the epicenter of a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1933. See 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake.

[edit] Location

Fog over Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay is a leg of the Arctic Ocean bounded by Baffin Island in the west, Greenland in the east, and Ellesmere Island in the north. It connects to the Atlantic through Davis Strait, and to the Arctic through several narrow channels of Nares Strait. It is a northwestern extension of the North-Atlantic and Labrador Sea. ^[2]

[edit] Wildlife

About 120,000 Beluga whales live in Baffin Bay, eating small fish and other crustaceans. They are at risk of being trapped in the ice and face other environmental concerns. ^[3]