Sea · Canada, Greenland
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay is a cold, icy sea between Baffin Island in Canada and the west coast of Greenland. For much of the year it is covered with ice.
Picture credit: Tech. Sgt. Dan Rea, U.S. Air Force (Public domain) · Buiobuione (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Buiobuione (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Baffin Bay?
Part of: Arctic Ocean.
Countries on its coasts: Canada, Greenland.
The story behind it
Baffin Bay is about 1 450 km long and between 110 and 650 km wide. In winter about four fifths of it is covered with ice, and only in August and September is it mostly free of sea ice. Many icebergs float south through the bay towards Newfoundland. In the far north lies the North Water, a large area that stays open even when the sea around it freezes. Narwhals, polar bears, walruses, bowhead whales and thousands of beluga whales live here, along with huge numbers of seabirds. People have lived around the bay for about 2 500 years, and today Inuit villages such as Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay and Clyde River stand on its shores. The British explorer John Davis came here in 1585. The bay is named after William Baffin, who sailed across it in 1616 with Robert Bylot.
Find it on the globe
Baffin Bay is there as a name written across its water — tap the water and its card opens. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
Questions children ask
How big is Baffin Bay?
Baffin Bay covers about 689 000 km². It stretches about 1 450 km from north to south.
Which ocean does Baffin Bay belong to?
The International Hydrographic Organization counts it as part of the Arctic Ocean, but some geographers see it as an arm of the North Atlantic. In the north, Nares Strait links it to the Arctic Ocean, and in the south, Davis Strait leads to the Atlantic.
Who is Baffin Bay named after?
It is named after William Baffin, a ship's pilot who explored it in 1616 together with Robert Bylot. John Davis had already sailed there in 1585.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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