the critical area until the regular Ice Patrol vessels could be dispatched 

 to begin the annual ice observation service. The Cayuga arrived in 

 the Ice Patrol area February 5. All vessels were informed by a radio 

 broadcast that the Cayuga was making an ice observation cruise and 

 vessels were requested, as usual, to report all ice sighted and when in 

 the Ice Patrol area (see fig. 1) to report their sea water temperature, 

 barometer, weather, visibility, position, course, and speed every 4 

 hours. The regular ice broadcasts were commenced this same day. 

 During the first cruise, February 4 to 21, the area south of the Tail 

 of the Banks and along the eastern edge of the Banks north to latitude 

 48°15' N., was thorouglily searched. The only ice sighted was light 

 open field ice in latitude 47°47' N., just outside the 100 fathom curve 

 on the northeastern slope of the Banks. The scattered bergs reported 

 on the Banks and along the eastern slope in January and the first 

 days of February had apparently disappeared and whatever forces 

 tended to move them into this critical area had ceased. Wliile 

 cruising in this area, tlirough which the Arctic ice-bearing current 

 normally flows, no appreciable drift attributable to the Labrador 

 Current was found. An inspection of the cruise chart for the first 

 cruise (fig. 25), shows further evidence that no strong southerly current 

 existed along the east side of the Banks at this tim.e. The isotherms 

 show the usual horizontal thermal gradient along the northern edge 

 of the Gulf Stream, or Atlantic Current, but no indication of south- 

 ward extension of cold water. This is to be expected at this early 

 date but how, then, can the extremely early appearance of bergs in 

 the area and their southerly position in the steamer lanes in January 

 be explained? (The ice reported during the first 10 days of February 

 was undoubtedly the remains of January ice and little or no new ice 

 moved in until after that date. See fig. 3.) The distribution of the 

 bergs on the Januarj^ Ice Chart (fig. 2) does not conform to any known 

 current system in the area and, as stated above, little or no arctic 

 current was observed in February so it is safe to assume that the same 

 condition existed in January. The bergs were scattered indiscrimi- 

 nately in areas of warm and cold water alike, showing that they were 

 blown there by the high northerly gales of December and January. 

 This, however, is not the whole answer, as it is obvious that winter 

 gales blow every year. It is apparent that further investigation is 

 called for, and two lines of inquiry present themselves. One, to see 

 if the occurrence of winds of gale force, force 7 Beaufort scale, or over, 

 was above the normal along the Labrador and Newfoundland ; 

 coasts during the winter of 1 930-37 and, two, to see if the light ice ^ 

 conditions on the Laborador coast in the early winter of 1936, men- 

 tioned under Ice Conditions North Atlantic Ocean (p. 8), were con- 

 ducive to such action. 



