Arm of the Atlantic Ocean between Baffin Island and northern Quebec, northeastern Canada.
Linking Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin with the Labrador Sea, it is about 500 mi (800 km) long and 40–150 mi (65–240 km) wide. It is navigable only during late summer and early autumn, but icebreakers make the passage most of the year. Partly explored in 1578 by English navigator Martin Frobisher , it was fully navigated by Henry Hudson in 1610 and became a main route for the Hudson's Bay Company 's ships.