Denmark Strait

The Denmark Strait lies between Greenland and northwestern Iceland, where the Westfjords face the open sea. Ice carried south by the East Greenland Current can approach this coast and enter fjords or obstruct fishing grounds. Behind the headlands, Skutulsfjörður offers a sheltered inlet within the larger Ísafjarðardjúp. Foreign merchants traded at Ísafjörður from the sixteenth century, bringing their ships into these waters despite the ice and changeable weather of the northern passage.