222 WATER MASSES AND CURRENTS OF THE OCEANS 



est south off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the months March to 

 June or July, when they represent a serious menace to shipping. After 

 the Titanic disaster in 1911 the International Ice Patrol was established in 

 order to safeguard shipping by reporting icebergs and predicting their 

 probable course. The ice patrol is conducted by the U. S. Coast Guard, 

 the publications of which contain a large amount of information as to the 

 number, distribution, and drift of icebergs in the region of the Grand 

 Banks. Prediction of the drift has been based successfully on currents 

 computed from the distribution of density as observed on cruises during 

 which several lines of oceanographic stations have been occupied in about 

 two weeks. This work of the U. S. Coast Guard is the most outstanding 

 example of practical application of the methods for computing ocean 

 currents (p. 111). 



