82 FRIDTJOF NANSEN. M.-N. Kl. 
The “Opening” in the Ice towards the East Greenland Coast 
in the Region north of Fan Mayen. 
Against Pettersson’s and Östergren’s theory must be cited the fact 
that in summer this opening generally occurs much north of the region 
where they believe that their warm under-current occurs. Asa rule it 
is between 74° and 76° that it is most easy to reach the Greenland 
coast, and this is just in Amundsen’s region, where there is no such 
warm intermediate water-layer. 
It is also towards this region that the sealers steer their course 
every winter, in March, in order to catch young seals (Phoca Groenlan- 
dica). Great numbers of seal gather on the ice in the region north or 
north-east of Jan Mayen in order to bring forth their youngs at the end 
of March and beginning of April, and here they used to be slaughtered by 
Scotch and Norwegian sealers. The idea of the latter is that the seals always 
seek their breeding place in the central part of the great tongue of ice (“is- 
odden”) which according to their experience generally extends south- 
eastwards or eastwards in the sea north of Jan Mayen. The situation of this 
tongue of ice varies much from one year to another; but on the north 
side of this tongue there is always, they say, a deep broad bay or 
bight in the ice, which they call the “bay-ice bight’ (“Bay-is Bugta”). 
The situation of this bay varies much with that of the "tongue of ice”, | 
but its latitude may frequently be about 73, 74, or 75°N. Across it 
the shoals of seal coming from the north have to swim on their way 
to their breeding place. The sealers therefore used to sail into this 
“bay” in order to meat the seals, and follow them into the “tongue”, 
and thus find the place where they gathered on the ice to breed. The 
sealers said that this bay was remarkable by having very cold water, 
and they called it the "bay-ice bight” because so much “bay-ice”, (2. e. 
new, thin ice, which when there is a little swell, is broken up into small 
round discs, and is called “pancake-ice”) is formed there in March and 
April. 
This ‘“bay-ice bight” is probably just part of the region where 
the bottom-water of the Norwegian Sea is formed. Here the comparat- 
ively saline sea-surface is open during a greater part of the winter; there 
is a considerable cooling of the water by radiation of heat directly from 
the sea-surface, without any intervening layer of ice, the formation of 
which is more or less prevented by a very active vertical circulation of 
the sea, penetrating to considerable depths. 
