The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with the British territory of South Georgia – probably placing hundreds of thousands of penguins and seals at risk.
The trillion-tonne slab of ice, named A23a, broke free from its place final month and began drifting northwards.
The “megaberg” – which is twice the scale of Better London and 130 ft tall – is anticipated to method the distant island off Antarctica within the subsequent two to 4 weeks.
Specialists concern for the island’s wealthy wildlife. If the iceberg will get wedged within the shallow waters near the island, it may block important pathways for penguins to get meals for themselves and their chicks.
This could imply mother or father penguins must swim additional, burning extra power and bringing again much less to feed their offspring.
That might “dramatically increase mortality rates” amongst penguins, based on British Antarctic Survey bodily oceanographer Andrew Meijer – one thing that has occurred up to now.
He examined the “colossal ” iceberg up shut in December 2023 when it drifted previous the analysis ship RRS Sir David Attenborough.
“It’s a huge wall, a Game of Thrones-style wall of ice that towers above the ship,” he mentioned.
“South Georgia is an amazingly ecologically rich island. It’s a breeding ground for a huge number of penguins, millions of penguins and seals,” Mr Meijers mentioned.
“There’s lots of pups and chicks and they’re all still dependent on their parents.”
Picture:
A23a is seen from house because it heads towards South Georgia. Pic: NASA Worldview/AP
Whereas the A23a represents a menace to the penguin colony on South Georgia, it does not pose a better threat to the general penguin populations, College of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos mentioned.
“The whole ecosystem in the Southern Ocean is very resilient to these events,” he wrote. “It has evolved with these icebergs being a factor for hundreds of thousands of years.”
The iceberg began shifting for the primary time in additional than three many years in November 2023, scientists mentioned.
Earlier than then, it had largely been stranded after its base turned caught on the ground of the Weddell Sea.
Finally, the A23a will break up into smaller icebergs and soften as icebergs do, Mr Meijers mentioned.
Icebergs breaking off is regular, however it’s taking place extra often because the local weather warms and extra recent water flows into the ocean, Mr Meijers mentioned.
