592 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Vachon's and Copeland's records, combined, show that the temperature of the 

 surface of the northwestern part of Passamaquoddy Bay may be expected to reach 

 15° for a brief period in August in warm summers, though perhaps not every year. 

 At the other extreme, the surface water in the channels betwe^en the islands of west- 

 ern New Brunswick, where tidal stirring is more thorough, is seldom warmer than 

 11° to 11.5°. Considerable fluctuations are also recorded within brief periods in the 

 central part of the bay, where the surface temperature is intermediate between these 

 two extremes, and in the mouth of the St. Croix River, connected with the direction 

 of the wind and with the stage of the tide. 



It is interesting to find that no part of the surface of the Bay of Fundy,^^ with its 

 much stronger tides, is as warm as the greater part of Massachusetts Bay, though 

 the maximum readings for these two areas differ by only about 3° (15° for Passama- 

 quoddy and about 18° to 19° for Massachusetts Bay). 



Craigie and Chase (1918) found the surface about as cold (9° to 11°) in the outer 

 part of the Annapolis basin on July 23 to 24, 1915, as it is along the Nova Scotian 

 side of the Bay of Fundy outside, but progressively warmer, passing inward, to 15.33° 

 near the head. According to Huntsman (1924), Minas Basin, at the head of the Bay 

 of Fundy, also warms faster than the latter in summer, but the definite values have 

 not yet been published for it. 



Dawson's (1922) very considerable list of surface temperatures for 1904 and 1907, 

 with our yearly stations off Lurcher Shoal, on German Bank, and near Cape Sable, 

 unite to show that a cool surface is characteristic of the whole coastal zone along 

 western Nova Scotia out about to the 100-meter contour, usually with the readings 

 falling between 9° and 12°, as outlined by the isotherm for 12° on the chart (fig. 

 46). More specifically, our own surface records for the Lurcher Shoal and German 

 Bank stations have been as follows : 



Locality and date 



Near 100-meter contour, off Lurcher Shoal: 



Aug. 15, 1912 , 



Aug. 12, 1913 - 



Aug. 12, 1914 



Sept. 7, 1915 



QermEin Bank, outer part; 



Aug. 14, 1912- — - 



Do-- - - — 



Aug. 12, 1913 



Aug. 12, 1914 



Sept. 2, 1916 



The constant difference between these two localities shows that surface temper- 

 atures lower than 12° do not reach oft'shore beyond the 100-meter contour in the off- 

 ing of Lurcher Shoal, but on August 12, 1913 (station 10094), we found the surface 

 as cold (8.89°) 12 miles out from the edge of German Bank as it was over the latter 

 (station 10095). 



As Dawson (1922, p. 99) has remarked, "as a rule, the temperature nearer 

 shore becomes higher when the weather remains quiet," his data showing that the 



"For further details regarding the Bay of Fundy the reader is referred to the extensive tables given by Copeland (1912), 

 Oraigie and Chase (1918), and Vachon (1918). 



