The world’s largest iceberg threatens a wildlife refuge

In contrast to what it seems Titanic In this re-enactment, the world’s largest iceberg heads straight for a remote British region – an area teeming with delicate wildlife.

The massive 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 large mountain currently drifts just 173 miles (280 kilometers) from the island, and its path poses a potential threat to local wildlife such as penguins and seals, as originally reported by BBC News.

“Icebergs are inherently dangerous. I would be very happy if it completely missed us,” said Navy Capt. Simon Wallace, aboard the government ship South Georgia. Pharosaccording to BBC News.

The iceberg’s journey began nearly four decades ago, when natural processes caused it to break away from the Felchner-Rönn Ice Shelf in West Antarctica. However, his newfound freedom did not last, as the iceberg soon became stuck at the bottom of the sea. In 2020, she finally broke free and began floating in the Weddell Sea once again, but faced another obstacle worthy of Homer. Odyssey:I got trapped in the whirlpool. The subsequent grand escape made headlines late last year, As we reported previously.

The A23a chip isn’t just big, it’s “enormous.” Andrew Millerprincipal photographer for Capture North Studios in Toronto, wrote in Blog post On December 10th. Miller captured amazing drone footage of the A23a, including the featured image of this article, while working on an expedition with Intrepid Travel.

As of August, the iceberg covered an area of ​​1,418 square miles (3,672 square kilometers), although warm waters north of Antarctica are slowly melting its 1,312-foot (400-meter) slopes, according to the BBC. The iceberg is now “only” the size of Cornwall in England.

A23a is It is not the first giant iceberg to head towards the British island and threatening local wildlife. In 2020, iceberg A68a also shot towards the landmass, but eventually lost strength southeast of the island before that. It disintegrated and disintegrated into thousands of pieces. If the A68a had become stuck on the sea floor near South Georgia, it would have disrupted important penguin and seal feeding routes. That’s the concern now as the A23a heads towards the environmentally sensitive island.

“The iceberg (A23a) follows a very similar path (to previous large icebergs) and we will be interested to see if it will also be trapped in the same place as the previous ones, which extend in circles for several weeks before moving forward.” said Andrew Fleming, Head of Mapping and GIS at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), at BAS statement From mid-January. BAS researchers are tracking A23a’s path using satellite images.

It remains to be seen whether A23a will stick to its course, how wildlife will fare whatever the outcome, and how the ice giant’s decades-long journey will end.