Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay is a big, cold sea.

It sits between Greenland and Baffin Island. Much of the water stays frozen with ice.

Big icebergs float in the water too.

Many animals live in the bay. You might see a polar bear. You might also see a whale.

Some people live on the land nearby. They live in small towns. They use planes to travel.

In the summer, some ice melts. This makes open water. Many animals like this open water.

It is a very wild place.

Baffin Bay is a large sea in the Arctic.

It sits between Baffin Island and Greenland. The bay connects to the Arctic Ocean through a narrow path called Nares Strait. It also reaches the Atlantic Ocean.

The bay is very cold. In winter, much of the water is covered by thick ice. This makes it hard for ships to travel. In summer, some ice melts. A large area of open water forms in the north. We call this a polynya. This area is named the North Water.

Many animals live here. About 20,000 beluga whales live in the bay. Most of them stay near the North Water. You can also find walrus, narwhal, and polar bears. The seals and walrus need the ice to raise their young.

People have lived near the bay for a long time. The Thule people lived there many years ago. Today, Inuit people live in small towns on the Canadian coast. These towns are Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, and Clyde River. People use planes and ships to reach them.

Baffin Bay is a huge sea in the Arctic.

It sits between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland. The bay is part of the Arctic Ocean. Some people also call it part of the North Atlantic Ocean. It connects to the Atlantic through the Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. A narrow path called Nares Strait connects it to the Arctic Ocean.

The weather here is very cold and stormy. In the winter, much of the bay is covered in thick ice. This ice can stretch from one shore to the other. Because of all this ice, ships cannot travel here most of the year. In the summer, a special area of open water forms in the north.

This area is called a polynya, and its name is the North Water. It stays open because of warm currents. This open water is very important for many living things.

People have lived in this area for a very long time. The Dorset people lived here a long time ago. Later, the Thule people, who became the Inuit, moved into the area. Some records suggest the Norse people also reached these shores.

An English explorer named John Davis was the first European recorded to enter the bay in 1585. Later, William Baffin explored the area and gave it its name. He charted the waters and named several sounds after his company.

Many animals depend on the bay to survive. About 20,000 beluga whales live in the water. Most of them stay near the North Water. You can also find narwhals, walruses, and polar bears.

Seals and walruses use the fast ice to give birth and raise their pups. Polar bears often hunt ringed seals near their breathing holes. On the shores, you might see plants like willow and birch. These plants provide food for caribou and small rodents.

The bay is also a place where the Earth moves. In 1933, a huge earthquake happened here. It had a magnitude of 7.3. This was the largest earthquake ever found north of the Arctic Circle. It did not cause damage because it was far from people.

Still, the area is very active. Many smaller earthquakes happen there even today. Some people also look under the sea for oil and gas.

Baffin Bay is a large marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean.

It is located between Baffin Island to the west and the coast of Greenland to the east. Some people also classify it as a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. The bay connects to the Atlantic via the Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. It also links to the Arctic Ocean through the narrow Nares Strait. This body of water acts as a long strait separating these two major landmasses.

The ocean floor of the bay varies in depth and composition. Near the coasts, the sea is shallow and covered with sand, gravel, and crushed stone. In the center, there is a deep pit known as the Baffin Basin. This basin is mostly covered in silt. Water moves through the bay in a cyclonic circulation pattern. On the eastern side, the West Greenland Current carries Atlantic water northward during the summer. On the western side, the Baffin Island Current brings Arctic waters toward the south.

The climate in Baffin Bay is Arctic and features frequent storms. Winter weather is especially harsh. During the winter, approximately 80% of the bay is covered by continuous ice, floating ice, and fast ice. In some years, this ice stretches entirely from shore to shore. The ice is most abundant in March. In the summer, drifting ice remains in the central and western regions. Many icebergs form during this time and drift toward the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland.

A unique feature of the northern bay is a large polynya called the North Water. A polynya is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. The North Water forms between May and July near Smith Sound. It exists because of the relatively warm Greenland Current. This area covers about 39,000 square kilometers in the summer. It is the largest polynya in the Canadian Arctic. This open water has remained in a stable position for at least 9,000 years.

Human history in the bay dates back to before the common era. The Dorset culture inhabited the area until around AD 1200. At that time, the Thule people, who became the Inuit, replaced them. Evidence also suggests Norse colonists reached these shores between the 10th and 15th centuries. European exploration began in 1585 when John Davis entered the bay. Later, William Baffin charted the area. He named several locations, such as Lancaster Sound, after members of his company. His findings were later confirmed by the explorer John Ross in 1818.

Today, several Inuit settlements exist on the Canadian coast. These include Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, and Clyde River. These communities rely on air travel and annual sealifts for supplies. In 1975, the town of Nanisivik was built to support a lead and zinc mine. This was the first Canadian mine located in the Arctic. However, the mine closed in 2002 due to falling metal prices and declining resources. While the town has an airport and seaport, its official population was zero in 2006.

The bay is also a site of significant geological activity. In 1933, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred in Baffin Bay. This remains the largest known earthquake north of the Arctic Circle. Because it happened offshore, it caused no damage to nearby communities. However, the northwestern part of the bay is still a seismically active region. Five earthquakes with a magnitude of 6 have occurred there since 1933. The most recent strong earthquake was a magnitude 5.1 in April 2010.

Wildlife is highly concentrated in the North Water polynya. There are about 20,000 beluga whales in the bay, and 15,000 live in the North Water. Other animals include narwhals, walruses, bowhead whales, and polar bears. Many mammals depend on open water to breathe. Seals and walruses use fast ice to raise their pups. On the shores, about 400 plant and tree species grow, such as birch and willow. These plants provide food for caribou and lemmings. Finally, the area is important for energy research. The US Geological Survey suggests the Arctic holds large amounts of undiscovered oil and gas. Greenland has offered many offshore concessions for gas and oil extraction in Baffin Bay.