One trillion-ton ‘megaberg’ on crash course with UK island

Iceberg, dead ahead.

The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with a British island off Antarctica, jeopardizing both marine life and ships in the area.

“If this happens (the iceberg grounding) it could seriously impede access to feeding grounds for the wildlife — seals and penguins mostly — that breed on the island,” Dr. Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), told the Daily Mail while discussing A23’s potential impact on South Georgia’s wildlife (pictured). Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Dubbed A23, the so-called “megaberg” weighs more than one trillion tons and measured more than 1,500 square miles at its peak — roughly three times the size of New York City. Although now it’s slimmed down to around 1,351 square miles after shedding slabs of ice over the past two weeks.

After being stranded on the ocean floor since 1986, the colossal ice cube broke away from its position several years back, and drifted into the Southern Ocean.

Now, A23 is just 173 miles away from South Georgia, a British territory that’s been dubbed the “Serengeti of the Arctic” because it houses a treasure trove of wildlife, including king penguins and millions of elephant and fur seals.

Experts fear that this frozen juggernaut, which is also one of the world’s oldest icebergs, could run aground and smash, potentially threatening the animal inhabitants like a zoological Titanic, the BBC reported.

A23 (pictured) measured nearly 1,540 square miles at its peak — three times the size of NYC. RAF

A23 viewed from a satellite. via REUTERS

A23 is also one of the world’s oldest icebergs. Gallo Images via Getty Images

In 2004, some of South Georgia’s resident penguin chicks and seal pups died after an ice island named A38 broke off and blocked their feeding routes.

Sailors and fishermen would also be under threat should the iceberg cometh.

Mariners were given a scare in 2023 after a flo named A76 came close to grounding and left a veritable icy obstacle course in its wake.

“Chunks of it were tipping up, so they looked like great ice towers, an ice city on the horizon,” exclaimed Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the South Georgia government.

“Those pieces basically cover the island (South Georgia) — we have to work our way through it,” Captain Simon Wallace, who helms the South Georgia government vessel Pharos, told the BBC. His crew has searchlights “on all night” so they won’t be blindsided by a berg.

Now, scientists, sailors and fishermen alike are closely checking satellite pictures to keep tabs on the trajectory of A23, which thankfully has not yet fragmented into slabs like other “megabergs.”

“It is presently in a meander of the current and not moving directly towards the island, but our understanding of the currents suggest that it is likely to again move towards the island (South Georgia) soon,” said Dr. Meijers. “The current follows the shallow continental shelf around the island to the southeast, but the question is whether the berg will follow this out into the open South Atlantic, or run up onto the shelf and become stuck for some time.”

Unfortunately, this might only be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

With Antarctica becoming increasingly unstable amid warming temperatures, more ice sheets will likely splinter off and migrate north.