This TRT World video reports that icebergs have been spotted early this year. It’s considered a “large” iceberg, which range between 150 feet and 246 feet above water, according to Scott Weese, a senior ice forecaster with the Meteorological Service of Canada. “But this is I would say certainly the highest iceberg that we’ve ever seen,” she says. She tells NPR’s David Greene that she and her husband, Charlie, have seen some pretty large icebergs over the years because they live along what is known as “ iceberg alley,” for the frequency with which icebergs float by after breaking off of glaciers on Greenland or in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Watching icebergs is a Newfoundland tradition, and Ferryland bed-and-breakfast owner Maxine Dunne can see this iceberg outside her window. NL Aerial Productions captured the view from the air, as seen above. Rising above the water by 15 stories and descending into the depths by an unknown amount- The New York Times reports that what’s above water “is only about 10 percent of its mass”-the huge iceberg is a striking spring sight for locals, tourists, photographers, and filmmakers. “Sometimes it’s as loud as a cannon shot.” The first iceberg of the season passes the South Shore on April 16, 2017.This iceberg is the first iceberg of the season to float by Ferryland, a small village in Newfoundland… and then it became stuck. “They can tumble down in a New York second,” Rogers said. Falling tides are often the final straw, causing the grounded iceberg to break up suddenly into the waves. If they come near shore, the bergs may bottom out on the ocean floor and come under immense pressure as the seawater stops supporting their weight. Bumped and nudged by one another and by melting pack ice, the bergs eventually get caught up in the southbound Labrador Current and sail down Iceberg Alley.Įxposed to the warmer sun of spring and summer in lower latitudes, the bergs begin to shrink and to develop large crevices that channel floods of meltwater. What began as snowflakes falling on Greenland during the last ice age has crept to the sea in a glacier and then broken off, probably sometime in the last three years, to float slowly out into Baffin Bay. The stunning view that is causing traffic jams of onlookers on the coast road is actually a snapshot of the iceberg’s death throes, 15,000 years in the making. “A lot of our fisher folks are just tied onto the wharf, waiting for the ice to move offshore.” John’s, the provincial capital, is “plugged solid,” Rogers said. Heavy winds have blown several icebergs close to shore - a boon for iceberg chasers, but a nuisance for the local fishing industry. The typical amount for April is closer to 80. More than 600 bergs have drifted into the North Atlantic shipping lanes so far, a count not usually reached until late May or early June, according to the International Ice Patrol of the U.S. Iceberg season starts in April, and there has been a bumper crop this year. A resident views the first iceberg of the season as it passes the South Shore. “Most folks can’t wrap their heads around how big it is,” Barry Rogers, the owner of Iceberg Quest Ocean Tours, a Newfoundland tour operator, said in an interview Thursday. Some of the submerged ice comes into view when the berg is seen from above. The berg at Ferryland rises about 15 stories above the waterline - and that is only about 10 percent of its mass. Some are locals or travelers who happened to be nearby, but many are a special Canadian breed, the iceberg chaser - people who flock to the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland at this time of year hoping to see the huge frozen chunks of broken glacier that drift by on a stretch of sea known as Iceberg Alley. REUTERS/Jody MartinĪn iceberg ran aground over Easter weekend just off the small Newfoundland town of Ferryland, population 465, drawing knots of tourists eager to catch a glimpse. Residents view the first iceberg of the season as it passes the South Shore, also known as “Iceberg Alley,” near Ferryland, Newfoundland, Canada, April 16, 2017.
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