Buoy 4543 entered an anticyclonic 

 eddy north of Flemish Cap. 

 Eddies in this location have been 

 observed in previous years 

 (Anderson 1983 and 1985). This 

 eddy and the front south of 

 Flemish Cap were dominant 

 sources of departure from the Ice 

 Patrol normal current field during 

 the 1986 season. 



The velocity distributions of the 

 majority of this year's drifters are 

 very similar except for the peaks 



at the high velocity end (greater 

 than 100 cnrVs) of the distribution 

 for buoys 4557 and 4549 (Figure 

 B-2). Drifter 4549's high velocity 

 peak was the result of its entrain- 

 ment in the North Atlantic Current. 

 The high peak of drifter 4557 coin- 

 cided with the time it spent in a 

 cyclonic eddy. The main peak of 

 the distribution of drifter 4547 is 

 shifted to the left towards a lower 

 speed than the others. This shift 

 in the peak coincide with the loss 

 of the drogue from drifter 4547. 



Figure B-2 Frequency distribution of buoy drift veiocitles, by percent. 



4547 

 4552 

 4542. 

 4542b 



=b.00 



10 00 20 00 30 00 40 00 SO 00 60 00 



VELOCITY CM/S 



100 00 100- 



4543 

 4549 

 4557 



■^b 00 



40 00 SO 00 60. 00 



VELOCITY CM/S 



I 00- 00 100- 



50 



