Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay is a large body of saltwater between Ontario, Québec, Nunavut and Manitoba. During the winter, it freezes over, but once summer comes, the bay is open for commercial shipping and tourism. The area around Hudson Bay is very sparsely populated. The biggest sector of the population is the Inuit who live in few small communities dotted along the coast.

Hudson Bay has an average depth of 128 meters and a maximum depth of 259 meters, which means there could be treasures to be found underwater. It is the world's largest inland sea, extending between 63 and 51 degrees latitude north. Partly within the Arctic Circle, it connects with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson Strait and Sea of Labrador, and with the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel, Foxe Basin, and Gulf of Boothia.

Baffin Island, a remainder of the crystalline mountains of the Canadian Shield, rises to heights of 2,000 meters.

Climate
The Hudson Bay climate is subpolar-continental. During the long winter, with temperatures as low as -60°C, the whole of Hudson Bay is covered with ice one to two meters thick. When there are strong northwesterly winds, the pack-ice can tower as high as eight meters. During the region's brief summer, when temperatures can reach 20°C, the permafrost on land thaws down to depths of 60 meters, transforming the landscape into a broad, impassable bog. This constant process of freezing and thawing has led to the formation of special phenomena such as pingos, which are mounds of earth formed through pressure from a layer of water trapped between newly frozen ice and underlying permafrost.

Flora and fauna
Although the growing season is less than five months, there is still a variety of Arctic vegetation that can be found in Hudson Bay. More than 800 plant species have been identified, including mosses, lichens, ferns, and flowers such as polar poppies, purple saxifrage, Arctic campanulas, and Arctic lupine.

The harsh climate means there is less wildlife. Migratory birds and seals are abundant, and polar bears occasionally venture into the settlements in search of food. In summer, the marshy landscape swarms with midges and flies. Hudson Bay has vast fish stocks, as yet largely untapped, and the occasional school of white Beluga whales.

History
Hudson Bay was first seen by Europeans in 1610 by Henry Hudson, a navigator and explorer from England, and later named after him. The first European to reach Hudson Bay overland was Pierre Esprit Radisson, a few decades later in 1662, and the first trading post followed at the mouth of the Rupert River in 1668.

Resources

 * Hudson Bay
 * https://www.planetware.com/canada/hudson-bay-cdn-qu-hb.htm