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
Hudson Complex to the east. The Fury and Hecla Strait, between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula, is the transition to the Lancaster Sound marine ecoregion to the northwest. Hudson Complex The Hudson Complex is a marine ecoregion in Canada, part of the Arctic marine realm. The Hudson Complex includes Hudson Bay and smaller James Bay to the south, as well as the Foxe Basin, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay. The Canadian mainland surrounds the Hudson Complex on the west and south, and Baffin Island on the north. Straits connect the Hudson Complex to other marine ecoregions to the northwest and east.