to shipping and routes to Loiiisburg from the south or southeast 

 were considered to be navigable. While the plane was over the 

 area a small freighter outbound from Louisburg was observed 

 negotiating the inner portion of the tongue without apparent diffi- 

 culty. The ice along the shore west of Flint Island was heavy and 

 closely packed making access to ports west of that point impossible 

 except for heavy ice-breaking vessels. The remainder of the field 

 eastward of Cabot Strait was lighter and more open. Scattered 

 strings and patches extended to within 10 miles of the approaches 

 to Port Aux Basques but the edge of the main field cleared the 

 beach past Cape Ray, thence closing to within 3 to 5 miles of Cape 

 Anguille. No further information was obtained during February. 



On 2 March an attempt was made to observe the limits of the 

 field, but adverse weather conditions were encountered and only 

 an occasional glimpse of the surface was possible. The next satis- 

 factory coverage was obtained on the 13th and 14th. The conditions 

 observed at that time indicated that the field of ice outside Cabot 

 Strait had probably continued to disintegrate and recede during 

 the latter part of February, but that Sydney and other parts of 

 Cape Breton Island west of Flint Island were inaccessible during 

 the remainder of February and early March. The south coast of 

 Newfoundland remained clear and the shore lead past Cape Anguille 

 and along the west coast of Newfoundland probably widened. 



With the exception of the report by the S. S. Warren Delano of 

 a very small berg later classified as a growler, no bergs were re- 

 ported or sighted during February in the area south of the 48th 

 parallel. A large growler was reported on the 9th of March about 

 43 miles south-southeast of Cape Fine and it is considered probable 

 that this drifted across the 48th parallel as a berg sometime during 

 February. Its position when first reported was but a few miles 

 south of the 46th parallel and it is considered to have deteriorated 

 to growler size before the first of March. No bergs are known to 

 have drifted as far south as 46° N., and the above growler is be- 

 lieved to have been the only piece of berg size to have drifted south 

 of 48° N., during February. 



MARCH 



The field ice off the northeast coast of Newfoundland and the 

 east coast of Labrador continued to deteriorate and recede during 

 early March. The rate of this disintegration and melting is only a 

 matter of conjecture since weather conditions made aerial recon- 

 naissance impractical until the 11th and no reports of vessels en- 

 countering field ice were received during that interim. Two observa- 

 tional flights were undertaken on the 11th, one of which scouted 

 the area off the eastern slope of the Banks from 43° N., to Flemish 

 Cap and the other searched the northeastern slope of the Banks 



