the sea ice while transiting from Cape St. John 

 to St. Anthony. Ice Patrol's flight on 4 March 

 focused on the ice-free waters of the offshore 

 branch of the Labrador Current, which is the 

 primary conduit of icebergs into the shipping 

 lanes. The flight found only one iceberg 

 between 48°N and 53°N. It was clear that the 

 season opening would be delayed, but there 

 was a significant population not far to the 

 north. 



During a five-day period from 25 to 29 

 March, CIS and IIP conducted six 

 reconnaissance flights, with IIP focusing its 

 efforts on the offshore branch of the Labrador 

 Current from 48°N to 55°N and CIS searching 

 near and within the sea ice closer to the 

 Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. In all, the 

 flights found 781 icebergs, most due to CIS's 

 search within the sea ice (Figure 23). 



During March, no icebergs drifted south 

 of 48°N, while the month's average is 62. This 

 was the first March since 1 970 that no icebergs 

 passed south of 48°N. 



April 



The first part of April was characterized 

 by much warmer-than-normal air temperature 

 in Goose Bay and warmer-than-normal 

 conditions in Newfoundland. During the first 

 week of April, the southern and eastern ice 

 edge moved very little. However, the next ten 

 days (6-15 April) witnessed a dramatic change 

 in the character of the ice pack. Moderate to 

 strong south winds dominated the period, with 

 particularly strong south winds associated with 

 the passage of a low pressure system on 1 1 to 

 12 April. By mid April the pack ice had 

 loosened considerably, and the southern ice 

 edge retreated to 50°N, which was about two to 

 three weeks earlier than normal. 



Colder-than-normal air temperatures 

 persisted in the region for the remainder of 

 April. In addition, there were several periods 

 of moderate north and northeast winds over 

 east Newfoundland waters, the strongest of 

 which were associated with the passage of a 

 low-pressure system on 26 to 27 April. These 



NOTE: EMPTY SQUARES INSIDE THE 

 ICEBERG LMrr MAY CONTAIN 

 GROWLERS OR BB«G¥ BITS. 



NOTE: LES CARRES VDES A 

 L-MTEREUR DE LA LMTIE DCS 

 ICEBERGS PEUVEMT CONTBIR 

 DES FRAGMENTS DICEBERG OU 

 DES BOURGUGN0N& 



Figure 23. Iceberg distribution on 30 March 2004. There are 856 icebergs and radar targets, most in sea ice. 

 (Chart courtesy of CIS.) 



18 



