The world’s largest iceberg is about to crash …

he The world’s largest iceberg is about to hit San Pedro Island the archipelago of South Georgia. Known as the A68a, the mass of floating ice covers 4,200 square kilometers of floating ice.

The ice giant of Antarctica is similar in size to the Argentine island occupied by the British in the South Atlantic. The iceberg will run aground off the coast of this island, considered a wildlife refuge.

A few days ago, Jonathan Amos, a BBC science reporter, posted a video showing what the mass of ice looks like from the air. In the pictures, you can see large cracks on the surface of the iceberg and the sea around the iceberg is full of pieces that have come off.

The collision of the iceberg against the island represents a serious threat to local seals and penguins. The animals’ normal feeding routes could be blocked, preventing them from properly feeding their young.

“Ecosystems can and will recover, of course, but there is a risk that if this iceberg gets stuck could be there for 10 years“Professor Geraint Tarling of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) explained to the BBC.” And that would make a big difference, not only to South Georgia’s ecosystem, but to its economy as well. “

South Georgia, as the British call this island, is a kind of graveyard for Antarctica’s largest icebergs. The A68 has been traversing the so-called “Iceberg Alley” since its liberation from the Antarctic continent in mid-2017..

This iceberg weighs hundreds of billions of tonnes. Its submerged depth is perhaps 200 meters or less, and due to its thinness it has the potential to drift towards the coast of San Pedro before being trapped on the seabed.

“A nearby iceberg has massive implications for where terrestrial predators might feed,” Prof Tarling explained. “When you talk about the penguins and the seals during the time that is really crucial to them, during the raising of the young and the chicks, the actual distance they have to travel to find food (fish and krill) really matters. detour, this means that they will not return with their young in time to prevent them from starving in the meantime. “

“A68 is spectacular,” said colleague Andrew Fleming. “The idea that it’s still in one piece is really remarkable, especially given the huge fractures you see going through the radar images. I was hoping it would have broken now,” he explained.