204 Frits Johansen. 



to obtain information regarding these regions, at a time when it 

 was not possible to visit them from the ship's harbour. 



With regard to the investigations on the seals ^, the following 

 may be observed. The northern boundary for the (in summer) open 

 coast and fjord water in those regions lies at 77°— 78° N. L. South 

 of this boundary the seals have very much the same biological 

 conditions; except that the thickness of the fjord ice is greater 

 further north and that the ice freezes more quickly and more com- 

 pletely in winter further up in the fjords, whilst on the outer coast 

 and in the ice-fields larger and smaller channels or openings are 

 formed throughout the whole winter. As will be seen from the 

 following, however, there are differences in the ice-conditions in the 

 fjords from year to year, according as the ice melts completely or 

 only in the outer parts of the fjord. 



North of ca. 78° N. L. however, quite special ice-conditions 

 occur, as a glance at the chart will show. In the whole of Jökel- 

 bugten (ca. 78° N. L. to ca. 79° N. L.) between Lamberts Land and 

 Hovgaards the inland ice joins on to the offlying, many year 

 old coast-ice ; here no openings or channels occur which the seals 

 might use, nor are these animals ever observed here. Whether 

 they occur at the long row of islands (Norske og Franske Øer) 

 which lie about ca. 78— ca. 79° N. L. is not known, but as they are 

 found at He de France, which is as it were the most southerly 

 outpost of the islands, this is quite probable. 



Between ca. 80° N. L. and ca. 81^/2° N. L., on the other hand, 

 favourable conditions for the seals occur, as the open sea lies just 

 off Holms Land, so that there are sometimes large openings with 

 ice-free water or this is covered by thin ice, during the season at 

 any rate when expeditions have been there (April, May, June and 

 October). 



The western part of the Wandels Hav and the east coast of 

 Peary Land right up to Кар Bridgman (ca. 82° — ca. 83Чз° N. L.) are 

 quite filled with screw-ice, a mixture of old fjord ice and refrozen 

 drift ice, which is just as little suited as Jökelbugten to the habits 

 of the seals (the observations are only for the month of May). 



On the other hand, at any rate in summer (June— August), 

 there is open water as openings or channels along the coast of 

 Independence Sund and the Danmarks and Hagens Fjords opening 

 from it (ca. 80°-82° N. L., ca. 20°-30° W. L.), and seals have also 

 been seen here at this time of year. 



It will be understood from the above, and when the nature and 

 manner of working of the Expedition are considered, that seals 



* As the whales are not restricted to the coasts, they are not considered liere. 



