According to the Sailing Directions of Arctic Canada, ‘the Northwest Passage spans the North American Arctic from Davis Strait and Baffin Bay in the east to Bering Strait in the west’. Although this represents the traditional definition of the Northwest Passage, the present discussion will limit the meaning of the Passage to the constricted waters within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago between Baffin Bay in the east and the Beaufort Sea in the west. Under the present definition, the latter bodies of water form part of the approaches to the Northwest Passage.

Approaches to the Northwest Passage

Eastern approaches

The Labrador Sea, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay constitute the eastern approaches to the Northwest Passage. The ice conditions in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay are mainly controlled by a warm current flowing north along the west coast of Greenland and a cold current flowing south along the coast of Baffin Island, as well as by a major polynya or open water area at the northern end of Baffin Bay.

A special feature affecting the navigation conditions of the eastern approaches is the presence of icebergs, calved mostly from the northwestern part of Greenland but partly also from smaller glaciers on Ellesmere and Devon Islands. Icebergs drift southward mainly with the cold Canadian current and, consequently, are found in greater numbers along the Canadian coast. Some of the glaciers rise to 300 feet above sea level and constitute a considerable hazard to navigation.