World's largest iceberg on crash course with remote island; wildlife in peril

The world's largest and oldest iceberg is on a crash course with a remote island potentially putting wildlife in peril, Australian broadcaster SBS News reported Sunday.

The whopping chunk of ice, commonly known as a "megaberg," is drifting toward South Georgia, a British overseas territory in northern Antarctica.

The A-23-A iceberg which first broke away from the Antarctic shelf in the 1980s, is 40 meters (131 feet) tall and weighs an estimated 1 trillion tonnes, but what makes it remarkable, experts said, is how long it has survived.

Sue Cook, a glaciologist at the University of Tasmania, said with about 90% of the ice sitting underwater, the iceberg got stuck on the sea floor.

"So like a ship with a really deep keel, if it gets into shallow waters, it can run aground on the ocean bed. And that happened with this iceberg for more than 30 years," she was quoted by SBS.

The iceberg broke free in 2020 and has since been traveling north.

Its journey has been delayed at times by ocean forces that kept the iceberg spinning in place for months at a time.

But experts said it now appears to be drifting toward South Georgia Island, and could reach the island within weeks, though it is possible it may bypass it, according to Petra Heil, a sea ice scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division.

South Georgia Island is often referred to as the "Galapagos of the South" because of its rich abundance of wildlife.

Petra observed that if it is headed for the island, the iceberg will likely split before it reaches the shore.

"It's highly unlikely that a complete iceberg, the A-23-A will run aground on the island. It's more likely that the iceberg itself will ground near shore in shallow waters. And due to the stress of this grounding process, the iceberg is possibly breaking up in smaller fragments," she maintained.

Nonetheless, she warmed that the smaller pieces could still put wildlife under threat, blocking access to their crucial nesting and feeding grounds.

"They conceivably have the potential to block actual pathways of certain colonies or other nesting ground of penguins, seals, and other animals, especially those animals that rely on getting access to the sea for feeding," said Petra.

As a natural phenomena, icebergs can be beneficial for the planet, releasing nutrients into the oceans, which are crucial to supporting marine life.

Scientists, however, warn that the huge glacial chunks of ice are melting and are being lost from Antarctica at an increasing rate, due to climate change.