Baffin Bay - Northern Canada - related image preview

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Baffin Bay - Northern Canada - related image preview

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Baffin Bay - Northern Canada - related image preview

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Baffin Bay - Northern Canada

The northward progression of the spring thaw into Baffin Bay is apparent in this MODIS image from May 16, 2001. Clear water and a stream of melting sea ice can be seen opening up between Greenland (upper right) and Canada's Ellesmere Islands. Native peoples and other early adventures explored these dangerous, ice-filled waters, and their explorations led to the discovery of the Northwest Passage, a navigable waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Orient that passed through the Arctic Ocean.


Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published March 1, 2002
Data acquired May 16, 2001

Source:
Terra > MODIS
Collection:
Visible Earth