Close-Up View Reveals ‘Incredible’ Scale of Mega-Iceberg That Ran Aground in Southern Ocean
The scale of the world’s largest iceberg was dramatically illustrated for those aboard a nearby ship on February 15, weeks before it ran aground in shallow water off the remote island of South Georgia.
The mega-iceberg, A23a, weighs nearly a trillion metric tonnes and, when measured in August 2024, was found to be slightly smaller than Rhode Island and more than twice the size of London. It had been drifting with the currents of the Southern Ocean towards South Georgia since 2020, according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
It was feared the iceberg could have impacted the wildlife of South Georgia, home to large colonies of penguins and seals, but those fears have abated as the berg appeared to have grounded on the continental shelf around 90 km (56 miles) from shore, the BAS said.
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Kate Jamieson recorded this video from a ship as she travelled to South Georgia in mid-February.
A23a is expected to eventually break up, according to the BAS, and the smaller icebergs it produces will pose a hazard to fishing and shipping operations as they are harder to detect and track. Credit: Kate Jamieson via Storyful
