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
Fury and Hecla Strait Fury and Hecla Strait Fury and Hecla Strait is a narrow (from ) channel of water located in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Situated between Baffin Island to the north and the Melville Peninsula to the south, it connects Foxe Basin on the east with the Gulf of Boothia on the west. The first European to see it was William Edward Parry in 1822. It used to be always covered in ice, making the navigation difficult. The first transit (west to east) was by icebreaker in the middle of the 20th century. In the summer of 2016 the strait