37 



March 12.— Berg (lat. 47° 50' N., long. 47° 00' W.). 

 March 18.— Berg (lat. 49° 11' N., long. 47° 58' W.). 

 March 21.— Berg (lat. 47° 48' N., long. 45° 44' W.). 



In addition, returning explorers reported an open season for ice, 

 there being very little ice in Davis Strait, and none except local 

 ice had been seen elsewhere. A weak Labrador current existed. 

 This would necessarily be an indication of a light ice season. The 

 southern limits appeared well defined and it was fully anticipated 

 that with the later ice and the rapid approach of warm water, the 

 southern limit would be above latitude 43° 00' N. As it later 

 proved, only two bergs came below latitude 43° 00' N., one reaching 

 latitude 42° 00' N., but at no time menacing the steamer lanes. 

 The berg reached its southern limit during the month of June, about 

 two months later than during the cruise of 1924. 



The icebergs observed during the patrol were the Greenland type 

 of berg. Their color was mostly opaque white. Scattered through 

 most of them were strata of deep-blue ice of varying widths. The 

 scenic effect produced by the deep blue intermingling with the soft 

 white of the bergs was startling and beautiful. The blue stripes 

 were probably formed by the filling up of fissures in the old ice with 

 water and then freezing. At places the walls of the bergs appeared 

 to have a beautiful shade of green when exposed to the sunlight. 



Bergs were sighted at various distances, depending on the state 

 of visibility, the height of the berg, and the height of the observer. 

 They were picked up on a clear day from 12 to 20 miles. On one 

 occasion a berg was sighted at a distance of 36 miles. In a low lying 

 fog with a clear sky overhead bergs were seen over the fog bank at 

 a distance of 6 miles; in a low haze about 9 miles; in a light fog 

 and rain about 1 mile: on a dark clear night about half a mile; on a 

 moonlight night about 2 miles, although at certain angles a berg 

 was sighted at a longer distance than 2 miles and in a fog not over 

 100 3^ards. There is a tendency to overestimate the distance. In 

 a light low fog the lookout aloft can see the berg sooner than the man 

 on deck, but in a dense fog the man in the bow can observe the berg 

 much sooner, as the first sign of the berg is either detritis or growlers 

 or the lapping of the water at the base of the berg. 



In general, the bergs were large, irregular masses of ice. Occa- 

 sionally ice bulks of the regular shape were seen. One such regular- 

 shaped berg was observed by the Tampa, well to the northward, 

 approximately 700 feet long, 230 feet high, and 225 feet wide. Gen- 

 erally speaking, two types of bergs were observed, the "dry dock" 

 and the solid berg. 



It was found that the bergs that began tJieir disintegration by 

 forming a hollow or " dxy dock" in the main body rarely capsized. 

 The large underwater body with two upright shallow walls of ice thus 



