Canadian Arctic areas was less than during an average winter. 

 The ice started forming later at the beginning of the season and 

 cleared out of most of the region somewhat earlier than normal. 

 More difficulty was occasioned by abnormal distribution of the ice 

 rather than by excess amount. 



2. The number of bergs to reach the Grand Banks area south 

 of latitude 48° N., estimated at 700, was more than on an average 

 year. The bergs may have been smaller on the average but there 

 are no quantitative data to support this hypothesis. The distri- 

 bution of the bergs was approximately normal. 



3. In the Greenland area until mid-April heavy pack ice covered 

 an abnormally large area off the east coast north of latitude 65° N., 

 at times enveloping the entire north coast of Iceland. From mid- 

 April until August more storis than usual was present on the west 

 coast of Greenland, during which time the amount on the east coast 

 dropped to below normal. 



4. Four vessels, one of which sank, struck icebergs during the 

 season. One of the vessels was equipped with modern radar and 

 underwater sound gear, and«two vessels were in convoys in which 

 the escorting vessels presumably were so equipped. These acci- 

 dents emphasize the care that must be used in navigating ice- 

 infested areas regardless of the equipment carried by the vessel. 



EXPLANATION Of THE TABLES OF ICE REPORTS 



The first column of each table gives the day of the month on 

 which the sighting was made. 



The second column gives the type of ice reported. 



The third column gives the details of location and description of 

 the ice. The policy has been to list separately each report received. 

 Some reports, however, may be composites of many sightings and 

 some cover an entire area. It occasionally was impractical or even 

 impossible to check apparent errors in reports. Reports obviously 

 in error have been discarded. Most reports have been greatly 

 abbreviated. The terminology used by the observer in describing 

 the ice has been retained in so far as practicable where the quali- 

 tative value of the report might have been reduced in rewording. 

 Positions given in degrees and minutes are in latitude north fol- 

 lowed by longitude west, with the degrees and minutes separated 

 by a hyphen. For example, a position of latitude 46° 51' north, 

 longitude 49°38' west appears in the table as "46-51 49-38." It 

 has been impractical to give individual positions for all icebergs 

 sighted as the numbers on a single flight may run well up into 

 the hundreds. An attempt has been made to give individual posi- 

 tions for those sighted more than 2 or 3 miles off shore south of 

 latitude 48° N., and those in critical spots north of that latitude. 

 Many of the bergs have been grouped in areas of 1 degree of lati- 



62 



