travel time of bergs located in northwest Baffin Bay in late summer 

 to the Grand Banks is normally about 8-9 months. 



6. Permanent attrition of bergs along the Labrador coast during 

 the winter months is rather small. Belle Isle Strait may be a signifi- 

 cant trap for small and medium bergs especially if onshore winds 

 predominate as bergs approach this area. The majority of bergs 

 normally progress towards the Grand Banks in spite of temporary 

 delays due to grounding. A most important factor here is that long 

 periods of onshore winds may effect delays in berg gix)up travel which 

 significantly decrease the chances of the group surviving to the Grand 

 Banks. The coastal area of Newfoundland from Funk Island, Fogo 

 Island and into Notre Dame Bay is a most important berg trap during 

 the ice season. Many years, bergs will be trapped and collected in 

 this area for lengthy periods before being driven out and back into 

 the Labrador Current by southwesterly winds. The Grand Banks 

 pack ice usually reaches its peak extension in late March and early 

 April. Berg attrition will be more rapid and berg penetration less 

 extensive if arrival to the Grand Banks is delayed until after early 

 April. 



7. Deterioration by melting or oahang of growlers is insignificant 

 for those bergs tra^^ling toward the Grand Banks in the pack ice 

 during winter and spring. There is no significant deterioration until 

 bergs are released from the pack ice. The longer bergs remain in the 

 pack ice and the closer they can reach to the Tail of the Banks in the 

 pack ice, the more chance they have to survive to the major shipping 

 lanes. The correlation between pack ice and the Grand Banks berg 

 problem is most distinct. A berg group will mostly deteriorate within 

 3 months in the open sea and out of the pack ice. Only the large 

 bergs may remain for perhaps a month longer dependent on sea tem- 

 perature and state of the sea. 



8. The December 1963 survey failed to locate any icebergs south of 

 Oape Dyer in eastern Davis Strait. It is concluded that most if not 

 all the Grand Banks berg crop drifts south past Cape Dyer. When 

 it is realized that most of the southwest coast of Greenland is normally 

 free of sea ice year round and that portions of the southeast coast 

 of Greenland normally become free of sea ice from midsummer until 

 late autumn, it is easy to understand why bergs diminish rapidly from 

 C-ape Farwell to Holsteinsborg. The East Greenland glaciers are 

 unquestionably a negligible source of supply for the Grand Banks 

 of Newfoundland. 



9. A normal supply of bergs located in early December l^etween 

 58° N. at the Labrador east coast and Cape Christian, Baffin Island, 

 including the entrance to Hudson Strait and Frobisher Bay to 66° 

 W., is considered to be about 1,250 bergs, 700 (35 percent small, 50 

 percent medium, 15 percent large) south of Cape Dyer and 550 (25 



80 



