Baffin Bay pack ice. Winds are predominantly north-western through the whole year. South-eastern and eastern winds are common in July and August. Between May and July (sometimes April), a significant portion of navigable open water (polynya) forms at the extreme north of the bay, presumably due to the relatively warm Greenland Current. With an area of about in summer, it is the largest polynya of the Canadian Arctic and covers the Smith Sound between the Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This polynya has a stable position and existed for at least 9,000 years. It was first described in 1616 by William Baffin and
Gulf of Boothia south. Gulf of Boothia The Gulf of Boothia is a body of water in Nunavut, Canada. Administratively it is divided between the Kitikmeot Region on the west and the Qikiqtaaluk Region on the east. It merges north into Prince Regent Inlet, the two forming a single bay with different names for its parts. It is surrounded by, clockwise, Baffin Island, Fury and Hecla Strait, the Melville Peninsula, the Canadian mainland, the Boothia Peninsula and perhaps Bellot Strait if the Gulf can be said to extend that far north. The south end is Committee Bay, northwest of which are the Simpson