Measurements were made at sea of the changes in acoustic intensity in passing from a shadow zone through the limiting ray and into the directly ensonified region. These measurements were made under conditions where a strong negative velocity gradient, extending from the surface, caused downward refraction of acoustic energy from a near‐surface source. The experiments were conducted in the Mediterranean off Corsica and in the Pacific off San Diego, using narrow‐band signals centered at 3.5 and 11 kHz. In passing downward from the shadow zone into the directly ensonified region, changes in acoustic level of from 10 to 25 dB were observed in a 500‐Hz band and over a depth interval of several hundred feet. Source levels of 73–77 dB/μbar and horizontal ranges of 1–6 kyd were employed. The shapes of the intensity profiles around the limiting ray are discussed in the context of previous theoretical work [C. L. Pekeris, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer.18, 295–315 (1946); R. W. Morse, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer.22, 857–860 (1950)]. [This work was supported by Code 00V1, U. S. Navy Ship Systems Command, under contract.]