PHYSICAL OCEAKOGBAPHY OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



585 



JULY AND AUGUST 



The vessels of the Bureau of Fisheries have taken a large number of observations 

 within the gulf during the months of July and August since 1912. July and August 

 temperatures have been recorded in various parts of the Bay of Fundy region under 

 the auspices of the Biological Board of Canada over a series of years.^' The tidal sur- 

 vey of Canada (Dawson, 1905 and 1922) liltewise has gathered a considerable body of 

 thermal information for the Fundian region and along the Nova Scotian side of the 

 open Gulf of Maine. With such a wealth of material available, the chief difficulty in 

 establishing the normal midsummer state of the gulf has been to appraise the 

 importance of the annual and sporadic fluctuations that confuse the record. 



Fig. 44.— Temperature profile running e.isterly from the basin off Oape Ann olong the trougfi of the gulf to the Eastern 



Channel for June 25 and 26, 1915 



SURFACE 



As the result of continued warming by the sun, the surface of all parts of the 

 gulf is considerably warmer in July and August than it is in June, in most years 

 rising nearly to its maximum by the last week of July over most of the gulf. The 

 graphs for Gloucester and Boothbay Harbors (figs. 29 and 30) show that in inclosed 

 situations of this sort the surface water is warmest then, mirroring the air tempera- 

 ture; but in the open waters outside warming continues slowly until well into 

 August, depending on the weather, with the readings highest some time during the 



"See Copeland (1912); Mavor, Oraigie, and Detweiler (1916); Craigie (1918>nd 1916a); Craigie and Chase (1918); Vachon 

 (1818); and Mavor (1923). 



