Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay is a great Arctic sea between Baffin Island and Greenland, connected to the Labrador Sea by Davis Strait. Ice covers much of its surface for a long part of the year; cold water and drifting floes move south along the Baffin Island shore. Inuit communities lived around its coasts, hunting the animals of sea and land.

In 1616 the English ship Discovery sailed north through Davis Strait in search of a passage to Asia. Robert Bylot commanded the vessel, with William Baffin as pilot. They followed Greenland's coast through the ice, crossed the northern bay and named the entrances to Smith, Jones and Lancaster sounds for their backers. Unable to find a route through, they returned south along Baffin Island. The bay later took Baffin's name, though the surrounding coasts had long been known to Inuit travellers.