HUGE ICEBERG THREATENS ISLAND ECOSYSTEM
An iceberg roughly the size of Delaware that is headed toward the sub- Antarctic island of South Georgia has experts worried about the possibility of it blocking wildlife from food sources and threatening the island’s ecosystem.
The iceberg, known as A68a, was about 250 miles away from the coast of the British island territory of South Georgia as of Wednesday, the British Antarctic Survey said.
The iceberg may run aground near the island and be a few weeks out from the island’s coast, said Andrew Fleming, a remote sensing manager with the survey.
The iceberg broke off from the Antarctic Peninsula in 2017 and is about 100 miles long and 30 miles wide. Its trajectory could change and steer clear of the island.
It’s unpredictable what could happen if the iceberg were to run aground near South Georgia, said M Jackson, a glaciologist who is an explorer with the National Geographic Society. There is a chance that if A68a does run aground, it could disrupt part of South Georgia’s ecosystem, affecting some of the areas and paths that animals travel to hunt and gather food.
“Essentially, seals and penguins birth on land, then commute back and forth into the ocean to source and return with food to feed their young,” Jackson said. “The iceberg might disrupt this, and seals and penguins might not be able to source and deliver food to their land- based pups and chicks.”
If the iceberg breaks close to the island’s coast, there’s the potential that it could displace large amounts of seawater “that can inundate coastal communities,” Jackson said.