Baffin Bay

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Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay (French: Baie de Baffin) is a sea

SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
between the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
and Arctic

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
oceans.

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Encyclopedia

Baffin Bay (French: Baie de Baffin) is a sea

SEA

Atlantic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
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 iceberg

Iceberg

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice or come to rest on the seabed in shallower water, causing ice scour....
s.

History

In 1585 British explorer John Davis

John Davis (English explorer)

John Davis , was one of the chief England navigators and explorers under Elizabeth I of England, especially in Polar regions....
was the first Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an to enter the bay. William Baffin

William Baffin

William Baffin was an England navigator and explorer. Nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance....
made five voyages to the Arctic and reached Baffin Bay in 1616. During these voyages it was proven that the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
was not in the Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay is a large , relatively shallow body of water in northeastern Canada. It is approximately 850 miles long and 650 miles wide. It drains a very large area that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana, and the southeastern area of Nunavut...
area.

Baffin Bay was the epicenter

Epicenter

The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates....
of a 7.3 magnitude

Richter magnitude scale

The Richter magnitude scale, or more correctly local magnitude ML scale, assigns a single number to quantify the amount of moment magnitude scale#Radiated seismic energy released by an earthquake....
earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph....
in 1933. See 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake

1933 Baffin Bay earthquake

The 1933 Baffin Bay earthquake was a 7.3 moment magnitude scale earthquake that struck Greenland and Nunavut, Canada at 6:21 p.m. Eastern Time Zone on Sunday, November 20, 1933....
.

Location

Baffin Bay is a leg of the Arctic Ocean bounded by Baffin Island

Baffin Island

Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut is the largest member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is the List of Canadian islands by area and the List of islands by area, with an area of and has a population of 11,000 ....
in the west, Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
in the east, and Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canada territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada....
in the north. It connects to the Atlantic through Davis Strait

Davis Strait

Davis Strait ; lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in the Canada territory of Nunavut.With a water depth of between one and two thousand meters the strait is substantially shallower than the Labrador Sea to the south or Baffin Bay to the north....
, and to the Arctic through several narrow channels of Nares Strait

Nares Strait

Nares Strait is a waterway lying between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. It links Baffin Bay with the Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean. From south to north, the strait consists of Smith Sound, Kane Basin , Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin and Robeson Channel....
. It is a northwestern extension of the North-Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

Labrador Sea

Labrador Sea is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between Labrador and Greenland.Water depths in the center of Labrador Sea are around and it is flanked by continental shelf to the southwest, northwest, and northeast....
.

Wildlife

About 120,000 Beluga whales live in Baffin Bay, eating small fish and other crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s. They are at risk of being trapped in the ice and face other environmental concerns.