■ 



30YEAR MEDIAN OF ICE 



CONCENTRATION 



MEDIANS SUR 10 ANS 



DE LA CONCENTRATION OES GLACES 



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Scllc iEJicHc 



Canada 



Figure 16. Median ice concentrations for 5 March (Courtesy of the Canadian Ice Service) 



while in a normal year it is greater than 

 140 nm offshore in mid February. 



There was little southward or 

 eastward ice-edge growth during the 

 remainder of February; the southern ice 

 edge remained in the vicinity of 48°N 

 and the eastern ice edge between 100 and 

 130 nm east of St. Anthony. 



A complementary set of aerial- 

 reconnaissance patrols in late January and 

 early February — two by Ice Patrol's 

 preseason IRD and three by Provincial 

 Aerospace Limited (PAL) under contract 

 with CIS — found a sparse iceberg 

 population near Newfoundland and 

 Labrador. On 1 and 2 February, the IIP 

 aircraft conducted two reconnaissance 

 flights, one over the sea-icc-frcc waters 

 of the offshore branch of the Labrador 

 Current between 48°N and 53 °N and the 

 other along the sea-ice edge off the 



Labrador coast from 53°N to 60°N. On 30 

 January and 5-6 February, PAL conducted 

 extensive iceberg reconnaissance off the 

 Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. They 

 searched over the offshore sea-ice edge from 

 Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, to the 

 southern Labrador coast at 55°N and within 

 the sea ice along the northern Labrador coast 

 from 55°N to 59°30' N. The combined IIP 

 and PAL patrols detected 1 1 icebergs, all 

 north of 54°N. The results of these early 

 flights confirmed Desjardins's (2004) 

 prediction that the iceberg season would 

 begin late. 



No icebergs passed south of 48°N 

 during February; the average for the month 

 is 15. 



16 



