the Newfoundland coast and did not represent any hindrance to 

 navigation. 



In the meantime the St. Lawrence ice began to move out of Cabot 

 Strait and on the 12th its eastern edge was reported about 50 

 miles northeast of Scatari Island. By the 27th close packed ice 

 extended eastward from Cape Breton to the 58th meridian. Few 

 reports were received of the southern limits of this ice but it is 

 estimated that it reached a latitude of about 45° 30' N. 



Only two bergs were known to have drifted south of the 48th 

 parallel during February, one of these inside the 100-fathom curve 

 on the northeastern edge of the Grand Banks and the other eventu- 

 ally stranding on Virgin Rocks. The distribution of ice for this 

 period is shown graphically on the P'ebruary ice chart, figure 41. 



March 



The month of March saw the rapid invasion of the Grand Banks 

 region by bergs and field ice and the most southerly extension of 

 field ice for the season. It also witnessed the beginning of the 

 extraeasterly berg drifts that characterized the entire season. At 

 the beginning of the month the southern limit of field ice was at 

 about the 48th parallel. As the month advanced more and heavier 

 ice from the north entered the area faster than it was melted along 

 its southern border. These limits moved southward and eastward 

 until the third week in March when the southern end of the tongue 

 along the eastern edge of the Grand Banks reached latitude 44° 32' 

 N., and the eastern extremity was at latitude 45° 50' W., at the 

 48th parallel. However, the southern edge of the field ice between 

 the eastern edge of the Grand Banks and Newfoundland did not 

 get south of about 48°30' N., except for occasional detached fields 

 and strings which rapidly melted. The eastern part of the field ice 

 evidently was in a faster moving part of the Labrador Current 

 and carried in it a number of bergs which, with the melting of 

 the field ice, were freed to move with the currents much more in- 

 dependently of the wind than was the case when they were in the 

 field ice. This release of bergs from the field ice indicated the need 

 for a continuous surface vessel patrol which therefore was inaugu- 

 rated at 1530 G.C.T. on 24 March. Because of the presence of a few 

 bergs on track C and the rapid southward movement of others along 

 the eastern edge of the Grand Banks, United States-European traffic 

 was shifted to track B on 26 March, 16 days earlier than the date 

 of the prescribed seasonal shift, 11 April. 



The St. Lawrence ice coming out of Cabot Strait spread eastward 

 during the first part of the month until by the 11th it had reached 

 the 57th meridian between the 46th and 47th parallels. Between 

 the eastern edge and Cape Breton Island the southern edge fluctu-/ 

 ated between 46° N., and 45°30' N., during this period. During^ 



126 



