Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay, ice-clogged body of water, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, between Greenland and NE Canada. It connects with the Arctic Ocean to the north and west and with the Atlantic Ocean to the south by way of Davis Strait. Although more than 9,000 ft (2,740 m) deep, navigation in the bay is made hazardous by many icebergs brought there by the Labrador Current. In the 1800s the bay was an important whaling station. The British explorer John Davis was first (1585) to enter the bay, which is named for William Baffin, who explored it in 1616.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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