In a seemingly reversed way Titanic reconstruction, the world’s largest iceberg is heading straight for a remote British territory teeming with sentient wildlife.
The colossal iceberg A23a is on a collision course with South Georgia Island, a British Overseas Territory located between Antarctica and Argentina in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Big Berg is currently drifting just 280 kilometers from the island and its path poses a potential threat to local wildlife like penguins and seals, as initially reported BBC News.
“Icebergs are inherently dangerous. I would be extremely happy if we missed it completely,” said Captain Simon Wallace, who is on board the South Georgia government ship. Pharosaccording to BBC News.
The iceberg’s journey began nearly four decades ago, when natural processes caused it to break off from West Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. Its newfound freedom did not last, however, as the iceberg quickly became stuck on the sea floor. In 2020, it finally broke free and began floating again in the Weddell Sea, only to find itself facing a new obstacle worthy of that of Homer. Odyssey: he found himself trapped in a water vortex. His subsequent great escape made headlines late last year, as we previously reported.
The A23a isn’t just big, it’s “HUGE” Andrew Millerthe principal photographer at Capture North Studios in Toronto, wrote in a blog post on December 10. Miller captured remarkable drone footage of the A23a, including the main image in this article, while working on an expedition with Intrepid Travel.
In August, the iceberg covered an area of 1,418 square miles (3,672 square kilometers), but now warmer waters farther north in Antarctica are slowly melting its 1,312-foot (400-meter) cliffs, according to the BBC. The iceberg is now “just” the size of English Cornwall.
A23a is This is not the first giant iceberg to head towards the British island and threaten local wildlife. In 2020, iceberg A68a also made a run toward the landmass, but ultimately lost speed just southeast of the island before break and disintegrate into thousands of pieces. If the A68a had remained stuck on the seabed near South Georgia, it would have disrupted crucial feeding routes for penguins and seals. This is the current concern as the A23a heads towards the ecologically sensitive island.
“The iceberg (A23a) follows a very similar path (to previous large icebergs) and we will be curious to see if it also gets stuck in the same place as previous icebergs, which circle around for several weeks before leaving again. ” said Andrew Fleming, head of mapping and GIS at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), in a BAS statement. statement from mid-January. BAS researchers follow the trajectory of the A23a with satellite images.
It remains to be seen whether the A23a will maintain its trajectory, how wildlife will behave regardless of the outcome, and how the ice giant’s decades-long journey will end.