Table IV summarizes berg statistics for the 1962 season. The 

 average surface winds from November to June were neither favorable 

 nor unfavorable for southern berg transport for the first group and 

 very unfavorable for the group north of Cape Dyer. See table V 

 for estimated average monthly surface wind conditions and the 

 estimated effect on berg drift toward the Grand Banks based on U.S. 

 Weather Bureau monthl}^ mean sea level barometric charts. 



Aerial ice reconnaissance by the Canadian Department of Transport 

 in early November 1962 determined tliat about 400 bergs were located 

 in the vicinity of the Hudson Strait entrance, 400 bergs from Cape 

 St. David, Baffin Island, to Cape Dyer to Cape Christian. Compared 

 to the November 1961 berg counts in the same areas, the berg potential 

 was less (800 vs. 950) as far as Cape Dyer, and much less (250 vs. 

 1,000) north of Cape Dyer. If the meteorological and oceanographic 

 factors in the berg crop area for the next 6 months would be similar 

 to the 1961-62 conditions, a light iceberg season was in prospect. 



THE NORTHERN BERG SURVEYS OF 1963 



A significant event in the International Ice Patrol annals occurred on 

 13-14 January 1963 when an HC-130B (Lockheed Hercules) air- 

 craft of U.S. Coast Guard Air Detachment, Argentia, Newfoundland, 

 made an iceberg survey along the eastern coast of Labrador, to and 

 including Hudson Strait entrance and Frobisher Bay. The main 

 purpose of the survey was to determine the location and the extent 

 of the 1963 Grand Banks iceberg crop. Other objectives included 

 eventual determination of berg traveltimes, drift rates, deterioration 

 rates, mortality percentages, and acquiring other pertinent ice data. 

 The flight planning took into consideration the available established 

 facts based on ice observation, especially those for the 1962 berg 

 crop, and the assumptions discussed previously. It was calculated 

 that the area surveyed would include the major portion of the 1963 

 Grand Banks crop up to June unless abnormal climatological con- 

 ditions accompanying the crop were very favorable for southern 

 transport and survival. Only 20 bergs were located along the entire 

 Labrador coast, and only 65 bergs were located near Hudson Strait 

 entrance. See figure 18 for the flight tracks, coverage area, and berg 

 plot. The visibility in the area east and north of Hudson Strait 

 entrance was poor and it is estimated several bergs in this area were 

 not sighted. Kadar was used but found generally unreliable for 

 detecting any but larger bergs in the pack ice. Except for a few peri- 

 ods of poor visibility, no difficulty was otherwise experienced in 

 distinguishing bergs in the pack ice. 



The survey indicated without a doubt that 1963 would be a very 

 light iceberg year for the Grand Banks at least until mid-May, re- 

 gardless of possible abnormal meteorological and oceanographic 



33 



