The three colorful maps below come from a Canadian government publication called the 'Climatic Ice Atlas'. They show the average distribution of ice in Baffin Bay in early July, early August and early September. The maps are based on data collected between 1969 and 1999.

On the blue map at left I marked the area covered by the ice maps. You are basically looking at three immense, tan colored islands: Greenland (top right), Ellesmere Island (top left), and Baffin Island (bottom center). The ice maps' legend is reproduced at right. The numbers refer to the percentage of ice cover on the sea. Thus, black is solid ice, red is almost solid ice, and blue is not necessarily safe, open water. It can contain icebergs.

The maps illustrate how difficult it will be to reach Baffin Island. The west coast of Greenland is navigable most of the year, but Baffin lies behind a wall of ice even in July. The concentration of ice in the center of Baffin Bay is called the 'Middle Pack'.The maps also show that you have to go far north, around the Middle Pack, before you can go west to Baffin Island. The relatively ice free area at the top of Baffin Bay was well known to the whalers and early explorers who called it 'The North Water'.

Source:

Canadian Ice Service

http://www.cis.ec.gc.ca