Paper 4 



2g££!!!&££ ~ The SST's were not strikingly unusual this month. 

 They tended to be slightly cooler than average north of Cape 

 Hatteras/ with some warm anomaly water associated with the 

 warm-core eddies. The Gulf of Mexico continued cool. 



The Gulf Stream showed a meander east of Charleston associated 

 with the persistent cold eddy surrounded by a ring of warm water 

 at 33N/' 75W. A warm eddy also persisted at 39N/' 72w . No others 

 could be seen because of clouds. The Shelf Water/Slope Water 

 front in the middle Atlantic Bight was ragged with incursions and 

 excursions. 



A storm formed in South Carolina on the Zth/' but was of little 

 consequence in the western NDrth Atlantic. Another formed off 

 Georgia on the ISthr the day the Argo 5l:§cchant ' ran aground. It 

 tracked rapidly no rt heastw ard/^ bringing high winds and rough seas 

 to the Nantuclcet Shoals area and preventing the Coast Guard from 

 s a I vag ing the oil. 



Another storms from the midwest/^ crossed the Maine coast on the 

 21st/ affecting the same area with air temperatures in the teens 

 (<-7C) and below/ and causing gales from Maine to Virginia. 

 Another midwestern storm crossed New Jersey on the 28th and 

 turned northeastward/ adding its fury to the shipping lanes. The 

 Panamanian tanker Grand Zenith was last heard from 55 km from 

 Cape Sable. No trace of the ship has been found. 



LITERATURE CITED 



BISAGNI/ J. J. 



1976. Passage of anticycLonic Gulf Stream eddies through 

 deepwater dumpsite 106 during 197^ and 1975. NOAA Dumpsite 

 Evaluation Rep. 76-1. 



SCHWADRON/ S . 



1977. Loss of dragger and her crew is stunning blow to 

 Prov incetown . Natl. Fisherman 57(9):25A/ 31A. 



^Surveys in the area of the Argo M§£chant spill have shown 

 mortalities and deformities among developing cod and pollock 

 embryos/ noticeable decreases in the abundance of sand lance 

 larvae/ and oil contamination of zooplankton. Studies are 

 continuing; preliminary findings have been released in: The ARGO 

 MERCHANT Oil Spill/ NOAA Special Report/ U.S. Dep. Commer./ March 

 1977. 



50 



