Labrador Sea

The Labrador Sea

The Labrador Sea is a beautiful part of the North Atlantic Ocean. It lies between the Labrador Peninsula and the country of Greenland. This sea has wide areas called continental shelves along its edges.

The Labrador Sea formed when two large pieces of Earth's surface moved apart a very long time ago. Today, it has one of the biggest underwater channels in the world, called the Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel. This channel stretches for thousands of kilometers along the ocean floor.

The Labrador Sea helps move water in the ocean. It creates cold water that moves slowly along the bottom of the ocean far away from where it starts. This cold water is called the North Atlantic Deep Water.

The Labrador Sea is home to many sea animals. In the cold northern and western parts, ice forms from December to June. This ice helps some seals to have their babies. Many whales, like blue whales, fin whales, and humpback whales, visit the Labrador Sea in early spring. You can also find beluga whales and sometimes orcas. The sea is also a good place for fish like Atlantic salmon, shrimp, cod, haddock, herring, and lobster to live.

The coastal areas of the Labrador Sea have many kinds of plants. You can find trees like black spruce, tamarack, white spruce, and aspen, as well as willow and dwarf birch. There are also small shrubs such as Labrador tea, which people use to make herbal teas. Other plants include cottongrass, sedge, lichens, and moss. These plants grow along the coasts of both Greenland and Canada.