The world’s largest iceberg is drifting toward the island inhabited by penguins and seals

The Ice Mountain A23A drifts in the southern Atlantic towards the island of Southern Georgia. For decades, the iceberg started with sea currents just over a year ago.

The world’s largest iceberg threaten to run into the southern Atlantic, populated by penguins and seals.

The A23A Ice Mountain was born in 1986 when it came out of Antarctic. Then it stuck to the seabed for decades.

At the end of 2023, the iceberg broke off from the seabed and began to drift north with the sea currents. Now the iceberg is less than 300 kilometers from the island of South Georgia, which is located about 1,800 kilometers from the tip of the South American continent.

The iceberg has an area of \u200b\u200bapproximately 3,500 square kilometers, larger than the city of Mikkeli. The height of the iceberg is up to 400 meters, almost the same as Empire State Building in New York.

A23A is also one of the oldest icebergs in the world.

A long ice raft at sea. The boat floats next to the ice floe. — A23A is the world’s largest iceberg and also one of the world’s oldest.

The iceberg can kill animals

The island of South Georgia is part of a territory ruled by Britain. The only human residents on the island are researchers at the British -owned research station.

More wild animals live on the island than people. There are, for example, many different species of penguins, seals and albatrosses. It is also home to the South Georgia wasp, a species of sparrow found nowhere else.

White -angle pinks and seals are staying on the lawn. — Sea bears and white-billed penguins on South Georgia Island.

The iceberg is concerned about the fate of the animals. According to BBC, Britain’s Broadcasting Company, the icebergs have previously killed countless birds and seals on the island, as they have interfered with their nutrition.

For example, in 2004, an iceberg called A38 washed up on the shores of South Georgia Island, killing penguins and seals when they were no longer able to reach places where they had previously obtained food.

King penguins on the grass. A mountain in the background. — There are many different penguin species, such as king penguins, on the island of South Georgia.

The iceberg moves with sea currents to warmer waters and melts. Probably one day it breaks down into smaller parts. However, the iceberg or part of it is likely to exist for years.

Ice Mountain at sea in the sun. — The iceberg is up to 400 meters high.

Climate change is not really believed to have anything to do with the movements of the A23A iceberg. However, global warming may cause icebergs to break away from Antarctica more often.

Researchers follow the iceberg’s journey and melting closely. In terms of marine nature, it is also interesting that nutrients are released from the iceberg during melting, which fertilize the phytoplankton of the sea.