of field ice each year is not yet wholly explained, the annual forecast 

 of the number of bergs for 1936, made by the Coast Guard, was a 

 notable success. The forecast was for a very light, or far below nor- 

 mal, year; specifically 65 bergs. The actual count was 22 icebergs 

 south of latitude 48° N. 



Dui-ing the second cruise, April 5 to 19, the fii'st icebergs for 1936 

 were reported. The first indication was four bergs reported on April 

 6 in latitude 49° 15' N., longitude 49°13' W. The patrol vessel on 

 April 10 and 11 thoroughly searched south and east of these reported 

 bergs and sighted no ice at all. By April 12, however, further reports 

 showed a real southward movement of bergs and on April 13 the 

 patrol again searched this area and located 13 bergs and many growl- 

 ers in the cold current on the northeastern edge of the Grand Banks. 

 (See figs. 4 and 20.) During the remainder of the patrol poor visibility 

 prevented any extensive scouting. Wliat searching could be done, 

 however, revealed a slow movement southward on to the Banks where 

 there is no sustained current to carry them farther south. Use of 

 track E became general and more vessels began using track F during 

 this cruise, though these routes ran through the area of reported ice- 

 bergs. These vessels, together with the operations of the patrol ship, 

 made it possible to check closely the number of bergs in the area. 

 Only 19 bergs had been reported this season and these were grouped 

 m a comparatively small area, for the most part, north of latitude 

 48° N. (See fig. 20.) Observations of the drift of these bergs showed 

 the movement to be sluggish, never over 10 miles a day and not sus- 

 tained. The Canadian Ice Patrol in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 

 Cabot Strait was inaugurated on April 5 but, apparently due to lack 

 of sufficient ice to warrant its continuance, it was stopped on April 14. 



From April 20 to May 4, the third cruise, ice conditions improved 

 considerably. Increased use of Canadian track F together with the 

 observation vessel's scouting, showed not only that there was no in- 

 crease in the number of bergs present, but that the bergs already 

 arrived had largely disappeared. The areas likely to contain bergs 

 were repeatedly crossed and recrossed by passing steamers in good 

 visibility and were searched at every opportunity by the observation 

 vessel and by May 4 only nine known bergs remained in the area. 

 Only two of these were in an advantageous position to drift southward. 

 The current map prepared by the oceanographic vessel between April 

 9 and 19 showed a rather broad and comparatively slow moving cold 

 current flowing southward between latitude 47° N., and the Tail of 

 the Banks with its axis well outside the 100 fathom curve. (See fig. 

 25.) At latitude 45°30' N., a portion (nearly one-half) of this current 

 curved to the northeast and bergs, which might have continued south 

 to threaten the United States-European lanes, were diverted at this 

 point. The surface temperatures as shown by the cruise charts (figs. 

 19-24) which carry the surface isotherms for the period of the par- 



