The world's largest iceberg is stranded about 70 km (43 miles) from the remote Antarctic Island, apparently keeping potentially important wildlife shelters from being hit.
Measures approximately 3,300 square km and weighs nearly a tonne, the giant iceberg A23a has been drifting north from the Antarctic to South Georgia Island since 2020.
This could cause them to collide with the island or strand in shallow water nearby, destroying the ability of penguins and seals to feed the youth.
It remains unknown if the iceberg is permanently stuck. “It would be interesting to see what happens now,” said Andrew Magers, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
According to a statement from BAS, the giant ice wall is 73km from the island since March 1st. “If the iceberg remains grounded, I don't think it will have a major impact on local wildlife,” Majors said.
“In the past decades, many icebergs taking this route through the southern seas will soon disperse, disperse and melt,” added Majors, who has encountered the A23A in late 2023 and has since tracked their fate via satellite.
The largest and oldest iceberg in the world, spotted from Antarctica shelves in 1986.
It remained stuck for over 30 years before it finally broke freely in 2020. That timber journey was sometimes spun by the Navy.
Satellite images previously suggested that they were not crumbling into small clumps along the familiar paths that such icebergs take. However, in January a 19km long clump collapsed.
If the iceberg got too close, there was wildlife concern at a key breeding ground in South Georgia. This would have forced animals like penguins and seals to move farther away to avoid huge blocks of ice.
“This could reduce the amount of food that will return to island puppies and chicks and increase mortality,” Majors said.
However, at its current location, icebergs can benefit wildlife.
“Nutrients are stirred by grounding [of the iceberg] And the melt could increase the availability of foods across the region's ecosystem, including charismatic penguins and seals, Meijers said.
In addition to the nearby Southern Sandwich Islands, South Georgia has around 5 million seals of 30 species and 65m breeding birds.
The island's seals and penguins already have “bad seasons” due to the outbreak of avian flu, the Majors told AFP in January.
Icebergs pose no threat to shipment. It's huge enough that a vessel can easily be avoided.
However, if it is divided into smaller parts, certain areas could be limited on commercial fishing vessels “for fewer, but often more dangerous Belgian bits,” Meijers said.
South Georgia does not have a permanent population that the UK manages as its overseas territory.
Argentina also claims the island. It is located west along with the Falklands known as Las Malvinas.
Icebergs of this size are rare, but not unheard of. Over the past five years there have been two similar sizes in the same area, Meijers said.
Such a huge iceberg is “a completely normal part of the life cycle” of the Antarctic ice sheet, Meijers said.
However, the ice shelf has lost 600 billion tonnes of mass since 2000. This is consistent by accelerating the loss of ice caused by climate change, he added.
Last month, researchers warned that if global average temperatures rise 1.5-2.0 degrees above pre-industrial levels, they could dissolve enough frozen water several tens of meters, and beyond points of no revenue.
Last year – destroyed previous heat records as the world was hit by fires, floods and storms – was the first calendar year above 1.5c.
