Tail of the Grand Banks in latitude 43° N. The abnormal situa- 

 tion in the spring of 1943 may indicate either a less than average 

 strength in that part of the Labrador Current setting south between 

 the eastern edge of the Grand Banks and the Gulf Stream system, 

 or an unusually strong easterly set in the eddy north of Flemish 

 Cap. Considering, however, the frequent and abnormally heavy 

 westerly and southwesterly winds that swept through the area 

 from January to April, it appears that bergs were released from 

 the pack not at its southern extremity, but mostly along its eastern 

 edge close to a line from latitude 49° N., longitude 49° W., to 

 latitude 52°30' N., longitude 51° W. Pack blown east of this limit 

 was quickly melted in the warmer water but the heavier bergs 

 persisted and were carried farther to the east. It is believed that 

 the eastern limits of the pack were farther off shore in this locality 

 than normal, but too little information is available from former 

 years to establish a norm. 



The wasting of the pack ice initiated by the April break-up accel- 

 erated in May. By the 11th the offshore pack was still stringing 

 southeast to latitude 48°00' N., longitude 47°30' W., but the inshore 

 ice edge had moved well off the coast in the vicinity of Cape Freels. 

 The pack had receded to the north of a line from Fogo Island to 

 latitude 50° N., longitude 51° W., on the 20th. Coastal vessels 

 were going into Notre Dame Bay by the 25th. By the end of the 

 month field ice in this area was no longer a consideration, even 

 for Greenland bound vessels. 



May, as in most years, was a heavy month for bergs in the Grand 

 Banks region. The ice chart for May shows only a fraction of the 

 number of bergs sighted but it gives a fair idea of their general 

 distribution. The concentration of bergs along the main part of 

 the Labrador Current following the eastern edge of the Grand 

 Banks is evident in the ice chart, as is also that along the inshore 

 branch of the current immediately east of the Avalon Peninsula. 

 The abnormal delay in the southerly movement of the bergs was 

 pronounced at the beginning of the month, and it was not until 

 the 11th that bergs were sighted south of latitude 46° N., in the 

 main stream of the Labrador Current. The general break-up of 

 the pack released hundreds of bergs at its southern edge, however, 

 and during the remainder of the month bergs moved south towards 

 the Tail of the Banks in large numbers. Approximate berg limits 

 were south to latitude 44° N., and east to longitude 42°30' W. It 

 was not until after the 25th of May that bergs began to move 

 south past St. John's in the inshore branch of the Labrador Cur- 

 rent. Hundreds of bergs were present off shore from Cape Freels 

 throughout May. They were in such numbers that observers in 

 planes could not count them but turned in reports as "entire area 

 practically saturated with bergs," "innumerable bergs," and "area 



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