18 



cross Davis Strait and drift southward in the Labrador Current 

 toward the steamship lanes. This question was discussed in Coast 

 Guard Bulletin 19, part 3, pages 77-78, as a result of the current 

 survey of the Marion, and it was concluded to be exceptional. The 

 question arose again on May 19, 1940, when the cutter Comanche sighted 

 a large berg, indubitably from East Greenland, in 59°40'N., 51°02' 

 W.' The General Greene sighted another on July 30, 1938, in 61°05' 

 N., 54°43' W., both of which positions lie on the westernmost limit of 

 bergs previously sighted in the Labrador Sea and thought to be from 

 East Greenland. In view of the foregoing, therefore, it is noteworthy 

 that the Northland, September 20-21, 1940, sighted no ice whatsoever 

 in the offshore waters between Labrador and Greenland, despite the 

 fact that we searched in the current and also that East Greenland 

 pack-ice and icebergs were extremely abundant the summer of 1940 

 in southwest Greenland waters. The scarcity and even rarity of 

 bergs 100 miles and more from the continental edge was, however, 

 remarkable. It can be stated from our present knowledge that 

 seldom, if ever, do bergs from East Greenland succeed in joining the 

 Labrador Current. 



Icebergs are largest naturally in the vicinity of the fiords and 

 diminish the farther they are carried into the Atlantic. It was not 

 surprising, therefore, to meet many bergs on the ice observation 

 cruise larger than any sighted off the Grand Banks by the Ice Patrol. 

 All measurements were made by means of sextant angle and bow and 

 beam bearings ; the distance run being based on propeller revolutions 

 and time taken with a stop watch. The highest berg measured by the 

 Ice Patrol was 262 feet. In the Vaigat, September 9, we measured 

 the second highest berg ^ of record, 404 feet, and another 397 feet; 

 both of which presumably had calved from Jacobshavn Glacier, and 

 were drifting northwestward toward Baffin Bay. Some of the highest 

 bergs were of a large group passed near the mouth of Karrats Fiord on 

 September 10. Seven of the highest ones measured in feet as follows: 

 306, 342, 189, 218, 244, and 267. In Melville Bay, September 11, we 

 measured five more high bergs, viz, 331 by 1,846; 218, 354 by 1,570; 

 273, and 265 feet. The height of the large blocky type of icebergs was 

 not so impressive as the more slender, pinacled ones, yet in most cases 

 the former were actually the higher. The usual illusion, where 

 distant bergs appear much larger and more impressive than on closer 

 approach, was noted. The longest berg was met September 14 off 

 the Baffin Land coast in 70°45' N., 67°50' W. It was actually a 

 chain of fiat-topped bergs which shortly before our arrival had ap- 

 parently been one single berg 5 miles or so in length. The largest 

 piece (separated from the other smaller ones by gaps of two or three 



• Highest iceberg ever recorded was 447 feet observed in Northeast Bay (Umanak Fiord). (See U. S. 

 Coast Guard Bulletin 19, pt. 3, p. 104.) 



