79 



by numerous reports, were apparently drifting southeast across warm 

 water at right angles to the surface isotherms and to the usually 

 conceived direction of the Gulf Stream drift. The 120-mile berg-free 

 separation of the southeasternmost bergs from the ice just below the 

 Tail precludes, when combined with a study of the successive reported 

 positions of the ice, the belief that the former group was made up of 

 bergs that had earlier drifted south past the Tail and got into a north- 

 east-flowdng current. 



MAY 



Early in the month the two latest reports for the year were received 

 of the Gidf of St. Lawrence field ice, both from the northern end of St. 

 Pierre Bank. In the Grand Banks region farther to the eastward 

 great changes took place in the ice situation. Throughout the month 

 the surface waters north of the forty-second parallel remained on the 

 average considerably colder than in 1928. Nevertheless, the effects 

 of the advancing sim caused field ice that drifted south of New- 

 foundland to melt with considerable rapidity and the southern limits 

 of the pack ice to retreat apace. Before the end of the month field 

 ice was reported for the last time in 1929 from anywhere in the 

 ice-patrol area. 



Bergs were present in almost unheard-of numbers northeast of the 

 Grand Banks, especially in the area extending 150 miles northeast 

 from the line between 48° 15' N., 51° 10' W., and 45° 50' N., 47° 10' 

 W. The patrol vessels, as usual, watched the southernmost ice and 

 in the cases of a few critical bergs were able to determine their drift 

 tracks. These are located in the general vicinity of the Tail and are 

 shown by dotted lines on the ice chart. 



During May there was an unexpected falling off in bergs south of 

 the forty-third parallel and a lull in the menace to the United States, 

 Europe tracks. Almost all bergs that reached the latitude of the 

 Tail curved closely around it and passed to the westward. Instead 

 of continuing northwestward along the southwest edge of the Banks, 

 some of this ice, as it had done during April, turned offshore and 

 pushed southward along the fifty-first meridian from the forty-third 

 parallel. However, the southernmost ice of the month, which was 

 along this line, failed to reach even the westbound "B" track to 

 Boston by over 30 miles. 



The ice chart for May shows an apparent lack of bergs along the 

 eastern edge of the Banks between 44° 00' N. and 45° 30' N. This is 

 probably due to the fact that the area concerned was crossed so little 

 by reporting steamers that many bergs undoubtedly escaped observa- 

 tion there. The shifting north of the Canadian tracks as soon as the 

 ice conditions permit in the spring leaves a wide comparatively^ un- 

 searched gap between the usual seat of operations of the ice patrol 



