The numbers and apparent sizes of icebergs in the South Atlantic Ocean in midwinter were measured by radar and visually from F.S. Polarstern during the 1986 Winter Weddell Sea Project cruise. Results show that in a heavy sea (sea state 7--8), icebergs have to be at least 115 m in diameter to be detected at all and that detectability falls off severely for all bergs at ranges exceeding 8 n. mi. (15 km); that most bergs had diameters of less than 1 km with a preferred size of 400--500 m; and that a high density of icebergs in the latitude band 53¿--56¿S at longitude 19¿--30¿W contrasted with a virtual absence of bergs in the same latitude band at longitude 1¿--9¿E. The latter effect is ascribed to melt and wave-induced deterioration causing the disappearance of this iceberg population between the two sets of longitudes. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988