May 



The early May sea ice limits were stable with the eastern and 

 southernmost limits at 48N 48W. A flight on 1 May over the western 

 portion of the Grand Banks verified an earlier flight (over the 

 middle and eastern parts) that all icebergs were indeed drifting east- 

 ward. Subsequent flights on 2 and 3 May located 550 icebergs poised 

 as potential dangers to navigation for the remainder of the month as 

 shown in figure 11. Some two weeks later, 267 of these bergs were 

 relocated slightly south and east of the former locations. The sea ice, 

 influenced by lower than normal temperatures and a southeastward wind 

 induced drift, moved to an extreme of 46-40N 46-30W. The central pack 

 moved northwestward starting at mid-month; however, a southeastward 

 tongue was left behind extending to 46-lON 46-50W at the end of the month. 

 At the latitude of Belle Isle the eastern edge was near 50W. This 

 tongue consisted of open to very open pack ice. On 15 May, the eastern- 

 most iceberg of the 1972 Season was located at 47-02N 36-59W extending 

 the limits of all known ice some 640 miles east of Newfoundland'' s 

 Avalon Peninsula and encompassing some 175,825 square miles of area 

 south of 48N as shown in figure 12. On 23 and 24 May two aircraft were 

 assigned to the Ice Reconnaissance Detachment to take advantage of the 

 short period of forecast good weather (the previous two weeks having 

 been plagued with fog) . They located a large concentration of bergs 

 on the northeastern edge of the Grand Banks, scattered bergs on the 

 eastern slope, and none at all on the Banks or south of it. The 

 numbers and exact distribution are shown in figure 13. The southernmost 

 icebergs of the season were computed to be in position 39-57N 45-06W on 

 23 May. The ice limits then encompassed 236,400 square miles, as shown 

 in figure 14. On 27 May, 208 of the bergs sighted on 23 May were 

 relocated and no further flights were made for the remainder of the 

 month due to poor on scene weather. 559 icebergs drifted south of 

 48N as compared to a normal of 63. 



June 



On 3 June the main pack of sea ice was located above 50N with a 

 narrow tongue extending almost 350 miles to the southeast as shown in 

 figure 15. This tongue of very open pack ice receded until 10 June when 

 its southernmost edge stabilized at 49N. With the Grand Banks 

 completely fog-bound, the Ice Reconnaissance Detachment flew northward 

 on 6 June to assess the iceberg potential for the remainder of the 

 season. The flight located 1517 icebergs between 52N and 55N, from the 

 coast to 49W. On 9 June the easternmost iceberg for the month had drifted 

 to 47-07N 39-07W. On 13 June, with fog still persisting over the Grand 

 Banks, a short flight between 49N and 50N from the coast to 49W located 

 some 380 icebergs. A week later, on 20 June, a flight farther to the 

 north between 50N and 52N from the coast to 47W revealed a record 

 3423 icebergs and growlers as a potential for the rest of the season. 



11 



