Hudson Bay
-
What is Hudson Bay?
Hudson Bay is an inland sea in east-central Canada, bounded by Nunavut territory, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. It connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Hudson Strait and to the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel.
The bay has a shallow floor, averaging 330 feet in depth. Its coast lies in a permafrost region, characterized by marsh-ridden lowlands fed by lake waters and turbulent rivers. James Bay is its shallow southern extension.
Named after Henry Hudson, who explored the area in 1610 while searching for the Northwest Passage to Asia, Hudson Bay became a main route for the ships of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Where is Hudson Bay located?
Hudson Bay is an inland sea in east-central Canada, bounded by Nunavut territory to the north and west, and by Manitoba and Ontario to the south, and Quebec to the east. It connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Hudson Strait to the northeast and to the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel to the north.
The bay has a shallow floor, averaging 330 feet in depth, with its deepest point around 900 feet. Its coast lies in a permafrost region, characterized by marsh-ridden lowlands fed by lake waters and turbulent rivers. The eastern and northeastern shores are high and sheer, while the others are low. The climate is severe, with average January temperatures of -20 °F and July temperatures averaging 47 °F.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Hudson Bay get its name?
Hudson Bay is an inland sea in east-central Canada. It got its name from Henry Hudson, an English navigator and explorer. In 1610, Hudson sailed into the bay aboard the Discovery while searching for the Northwest Passage to Asia.
5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some main features of Hudson Bay's environment?
Hudson Bay, an inland sea in east-central Canada, has several notable environmental features. Its floor is shallow, averaging 330 feet (100 meters) in depth. The coast lies in a permafrost region, characterized by marsh-ridden lowlands and turbulent rivers.
The bay experiences a severe continental climate, with January temperatures averaging -20 °F (-29 °C) and July temperatures averaging 47 °F (8 °C). Numerous rivers and currents from the Foxe Basin fill the bay, creating a counterclockwise movement. The bay contains a great quantity of dissolved nutrient salts, and fish species include polar plaice, cod, halibut, and salmon. Seals, walruses, dolphins, and polar bears inhabit the area. About 200 bird species gather on the coasts and islands.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why is Hudson Bay important to Canada’s history and economy?
Hudson Bay is significant to Canada's history and economy due to its role in the fur trade and as a transportation route. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), established in 1670, controlled Rupert's Land, a vast territory including the Hudson Bay drainage basin, and dominated the fur trade for two centuries. The HBC established trading posts around the bay, which led to competition with French traders and shaped early Canadian history. Today, settlements around Hudson Bay are inhabited by Inuit and Cree, who engage in fishing and hunting.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do the seasons impact the wildlife and climate of Hudson Bay?
Hudson Bay's wildlife and climate are closely linked, with the seasons dictating the behaviors of its many species. The bay experiences a severe continental climate, with average January temperatures of -20 °F (-29 °C) and July temperatures averaging only 47 °F (8 °C).
Many species depend on the seasonal changes in Hudson Bay for their life cycles. About 200 bird species gather on the coasts and islands, and mammals such as caribou, musk oxen, and polar bears also inhabit the area. The availability of food and suitable breeding grounds are also impacted by these seasonal shifts, influencing migration patterns and overall survival rates.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Hudson Bay, inland sea indenting east-central Canada. With an area of 316,000 square miles (819,000 square km), it is bounded by Nunavut territory (north and west), Manitoba and Ontario (south), and Quebec (east). It is connected with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson Strait (northeast) and with the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel (north).
The bay is named for Henry Hudson, who in 1610, on board the aptly named Discovery, was seeking a Northwest Passage to Asia. The east coast of Hudson Bay proper was mapped two years later; the south coast was traced in 1631, and the explorer Luke Foxe lent his name to Foxe Channel in the same year. The west coast was not mapped until the early 1820s, and the first bathymetric measurements of the area were made by Canadians during 1929–31. Air reconnaissance superseded naval researches from the second half of the 20th century.
Physical characteristics
Hudson Bay has a shallow and quite smooth floor, averaging 330 feet (100 metres) in depth, with a maximum around 900 feet (270 metres). The coast, situated in a region of permanently frozen earth layers, or permafrost, is a marsh-ridden lowland fed by lake waters and turbulent rivers. In the east and northeast the shores are high and sheer, but elsewhere they are low. Coniferous woods border the southerly James Bay, the shallowest part, but most of the shore is covered with dwarf birch, willow, aspen, and bushes, growing among moss, lichen, and grass.
The eastern coast is bordered, at a distance of some 200 miles (300 km), with a set of islands and has cliffs formed of geologically ancient Precambrian (more than 540 million years old) crystalline and sedimentary rocks. The only other islands are a small cluster at the bay exit.
Hudson Bay has a severe continental climate. January temperatures average −20 °F (−29 °C), while July temperatures average only 47 °F (8 °C). Annual averages are 9.3 °F (−12.6 °C), but extremes range from −60 °F (−51 °C) in the winter to 80 °F (27 °C) in the summer. Spring is mild and cloudy, whereas summer is clear, though the bay itself is often coated with fog. Autumn starts cool, with frequent fogs, clearing later; early winter is very cold, clear, and calm, but this pattern is interrupted, after December, by strong winds and snowstorms. The spring thaw begins in late April.
The bay is filled by the numerous peripheral rivers and also by currents from Foxe Basin in the north, creating a counterclockwise general movement. Outflow occurs along the eastern Hudson Strait coast, rounding Chidley Cape (the northernmost tip of the Quebec-Newfoundland border), and passing into the Labrador Current. Flow is highest in July. Currents in the bay also respond to the fierce tidal flow off the Labrador coast.
Hudson Bay has much ice of local origin, and there is some influx of pack ice from Foxe Basin. Southern and central areas have solid, floating ice fields only during February and March. Salinity increases with depth: below 80 feet it is 31 parts per thousand (ppt); the layer above registers 23 ppt; and the upper 6 feet (2 metres) registers only 2 ppt when the current is strong and ice is melting. Water temperatures can be as low as 29 °F (−2 °C) at depth in August, although surface temperatures may reach 49 °F (9 °C) in September.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
Biological characteristics
Hudson Bay contains a great quantity of dissolved nutrient salts, because unicellular algae grow fast in the illuminated upper layers. Small, shrimplike crustaceans occupy the open waters and form a food source for mollusks, sea urchins, starfish, and worms, together with many other invertebrates living on the bottom.
Fish include numerous polar plaice, cod, halibut, salmon migrating to the lakes and rivers to spawn, and also freshwater species. Ringed, bearded, and Greenland seals inhabit the areas around openings in the ice. Walrus, dolphins, and killer whales live in the northern sector, and polar bears come down from the north to hunt seals on the ice. About 200 species of birds gather on the coasts and islands; they include ducks, gulls, eiders, loons, snow geese, swans, sandpipers, snow owls, and crows. There are also such herbivorous mammals as caribou, musk oxen, and rodents, as well as fur-bearing animals.
Human exploitation
Fishing and the hunting of sea mammals for their pelts are the main local occupations. Settlements along the rim of the bay include Coral Harbour (Salliq; on Southampton Island), Chesterfield Inlet (Igluligaarjuk; west of Southampton Island), Rankin Inlet (Kangiqtinq), Whale Cove (Tikirarjuaq), Arviat, Churchill (on the Manitoba coast), Fort Severn (Ontario), Fort Albany (on the western coast of James Bay), and Sanikiluaq (on the Belcher Islands). Inuit and Cree Indians are the largest resident groups. Population density is very low. For conservation purposes, the Canadian government has designated the whole Hudson Bay Basin a “mare clausum” (closed sea).