tions on this date are displayed in figure 16. On 

 June 18 a coastal and northern flight from south 

 of the Avalon Peninsula to just south of 

 Hamilton Inlet revealed over 800 icebergs, a very 

 significant number for the remainder of the sea- 

 son. Poor on scene visibility limited the effec- 

 tiveness of the remainder of the flights this 

 month. Based on computer drift, the southern- 

 most iceberg of the season was in position 

 41°24'N 48°10'W on June 25. The ice conditions 

 on this date are shown in figure 17. An exten- 

 sive belt of sea ice remained along the coasts of 

 Labrador and Newfoundland which are normally 

 clear by the end of June. It was estimated that 

 266 icebergs drifted south of 48°N during the 

 month. 



July 1974 



On July 6, a coastal flight located 39 icebergs 

 east and south of the Avalon Peninsula. On the 

 following day a good flight covered the eastern 

 slope of the Grand Banks revealing only 16 ice- 

 bergs. These are shown in figure 18. The Strait 

 of Belle Isle was clear of sea ice on July 12, 

 except for patches along the northern shore. 

 Only a few patches of sea ice remained along the 

 northeast coast of Newfoundland, and these 

 rapidly disappeared. Another coastal flight at 

 mid-month revealed almost 100 icebergs northeast 

 and east of the Avalon Peninsula. There was 

 persistent fog on the Grand Banks for the next 

 two weeks with all aircraft reconnaissance failing 

 to detect anything but radar targets. Good 

 flights were finally obtained on July 29 and 30 

 (figure 19) locating two small icebergs east of 

 the Tail of the Banks with the next southern- 

 most bergs in the vicinity of 47 °N. A total of 



only 13 icebergs and one growler were sighted. 

 Thus, the Ice Reconnaissance Detachment re- 

 turned to New York and North Carolina on July 

 30. The July estimate of bergs south of 48 °N 

 was still 168, some ten times the monthly normal 

 and brought the season count to over 1300 ice- 

 bergs with one month remaining. Also, at the 

 end of the month, over 100 icebergs were reported 

 in the Strait of Belle Isle with over 50 bergs in 

 its eastern approaches. 



August 1974 



Ship reports of the southernmost and eastern- 

 most icebergs persisted so ice observers were 

 deployed with a Coast Guard C-130 logistics mis- 

 sion to Dakar, Senegal. One flight was conducted 

 enroute St. John's on August 8, with a dedicated 

 survey on the following day. As shown in figure 

 20, one iceberg and three growlers were located 

 near the Tail of the Banks with 80 icebergs north 

 of 47° 25'N and concentrated between 48°N and 

 49°N. The return flight from Dakar located the 

 remains of two small rapidly melting pieces of 

 ice on August 12 in positions 46° 15'N 46° 25'W 

 and 46° 08'N 46° 53'W. These were estimated 

 to melt completely within the next day. Thus, 

 Ice Patrol services for the 1974 Season were ter- 

 minated on August 13, with a minimal threat of 

 icebergs south of 47 °N. Many icebergs were re- 

 ported during the remainder of the month in the 

 eastern approaches to the Strait of the Belle Isle 

 and a few just west of Flemish Cap after the 

 season closed. It was estimated than an addi- 

 tional 61 icebergs drifted south of 48 °N during 

 the month of August bringing the season total to 

 1386, the second heaviest on record. 



