75 



cliarts for earlier in the season. This is due to the sun's heat, which 

 warmed the ocean surface over the continental shelf from a winter 

 minimum of 33° to a temperature of 39° by the end of May. The 

 temperature of the Atlantic water south of the ^' cold wall " warmed 

 from 55° to 58° by the 15th of the month and to 62° by the latter 

 part of the month. Tlie position of the " cold wall " remained prac- 

 tically unchanged from that found the latter half of April. Due 

 to the heating of the surface layers by an approaching summer's sun, 

 and further to the fact that these layers are moved under the influ- 

 ence of prevailing winds, no true position of the " cold wall " can 

 be obtained at this time of year superficially. An examination of 

 the wind roses on charts H, I, and J reveal the fact that northerly 

 winds prevailed the latter part of April, moderate variable winds the 

 first half of Ma3% and southerly winds of greater intensity the latter 

 part of the month. For these reasons the surface-water layers were 

 not subjected to any large and definite movement, and therefore the 

 " cold wall " retained its general position unchanged throughout the 

 month. 



There was no ice reported or sighted during the first two weeks of 

 the month except a small field on the extreme northern edge of the 

 Grand Bank, May 10, in 48° 42' north, 51° 12' west, but on the 15th 

 the steamship Oxonian reported passing a small berg in 46° 14' north, 

 50° 15' west, just south of the Virgin Rocks. A careful search, which 

 occupied the 16th and 17th, failed to confirm this report, and the 

 presence of a fishing vessel anchored in this position led us to suspect 

 that it had been mistaken by the Oxonian some distance away as the 

 shape of a berg. Especially were these views strengthened when this 

 fishing vessel reported she had been anchored there during the past 

 three days, the master of the craft adding that he and all the other 

 fishing vessels with which he had spoken had seen no ice on the Grand 

 Banks this season. 



We called at St. Johns, Newfoundland, on the 24th and 25th in 

 order to interview local mariners regarding ice conditions in the 

 vicinity of Newfoundland this spring and also to gather general 

 information which might be of value to the ice patrol. We left St. 

 Johns the evening of the 25th and cruised northward toward Belle 

 Isle, where we arrived the afternoon of the 27th. Our course ran 

 from 30 miles off Funk Island to North End Light, Belle Isle, and 

 during the run we sighted a total of seven bergs, but none offshore 

 of our track. About 30 bergs were scattered around in various posi- 

 tions in the entrance of the strait, some having been set in closely 

 under the cliffs, while others had been carried into pockets in the 

 shore line, but they all plainly showed the general tendency of the 

 currents in this locality, namely, to drift the bergs onto the shore. 



