The field ice in the Grand Banks area had completely disintegrated 

 by 25 April. However, a second push of pack ice developed south 

 to 50° N. toward Notre Dame Bay with an easterly limit of 54° W. 

 With light northwest winds predominating in this region most of May, 

 the pack ice was being fed from the north at about the same rate as it 

 was disintegrating, producing a static situation for most of the month. 

 During the third week of May southwesterly winds followed by north- 

 erly winds drove some of the pack ice seaward to the east and south. 

 Loosely scattered strings and patches drifted east and south as far as 

 48°30' N., 51° W., prior to disintegrating. 



Ice conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were lighter than normal. 

 However, the conditions in Cabot Strait were more difficult than nor- 

 mal with pack ice persisting there until it moved southeast out into 

 the Atlantic along the southern coast of Cape Breton and disintegrated. 

 By 20 May, the entire Gulf was reported ice free except for the Strait 

 of Belle Isle, and some scattered bergs and growlers in Cabot Strait 

 and along the west coast of Newfoundland. An unusual occurrence 

 was the movement of at least three bergs from the Gulf, south through 

 Cabot Strait. 



It is estimated that only 21 bergs moved south of 48° N. during 

 May or well below the average of 74 for May over the last 12 years. 

 See figure 17 for the plot of ice reports for May. 



JUNE 



At the beginning of June there were an estimated 12 bergs south of 

 48° N., and there were a few scattered bergs in the Labrador Current 

 along the north slope of the Grand Banks eastward to 48°30' W. 

 The eastward movement of the latter bergs that began near the end 

 of May continued in June. The third oceanographic survey (see 

 fig. 21) revealed a comparatively weak Labrador Current and a very 

 strong Atlantic Current with a strong meander encroaching the east 

 slope of the Banks between 43° N. and 45° N. This is also evident in 

 the 1-15 June isotherm chart. (See fig. 7.) Thus, there was little or 

 no threat to shipping Track B or C for the remainder of the year. 

 The majority of the bergs drifted east of 47° W. near 48° N. into a 

 counterclockwise eddy and out of the southeast and south moving 

 main branch of the Labrador Current. As most of these bergs were 

 small, the deterioration was rapid and within 5 days in the 40° F. 

 water between 46° W. and 47° W. near 48° N., the five or six bergs 

 that remained in the current all deteriorated prior to reaching 47° N. 



One medium-large sized drydock berg, which was the same large 

 250-foot-high pinnacled berg that had been aground near the 100- 

 fathom curve at 48°50' N., 52°05' W. for 2 weeks in May, was cause 

 for some concern. This berg was located at48°40' N., 51°05' W. on 

 9 June. By 13 June it had drifted 85 miles to the southeast in the 

 Labrador Current and on this date was reported by the U.S. Coast 



17 



