Icebergs reaking havoc down under

Icebergs drifting North from Antarctica have been getting closer and closer to Australia and New Zealand, and have more recently began to constitute a fairly serious threat to shipping in that area. Navigation is made more dangerous as the large icebergs move North into warmer temperatures and begin to break up, scattering hundreds of smaller yet still dangerous icebergs.

B17B – The Monster

The most recent shot of B17B, showing some of the smaller icebergs breaking off from it. (NASA)

NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS
Navarea XIV warnings in force 9 December 2009
NAVAREA XIV
(South West Pacific)

072/09 SOUTHERN OCEAN MACQUARIE ISLAND CHART NZ 14065 (INT 65)
1. Numerous icebergs reported between Macquarie Island and Campbell Island.
2. Mariners should navigate with extreme caution south of latitude 50-00s

Although not unusual for large icebergs to travel this far north, it is at least rare say the scientists who are tracking this behemoth, termed B17B.  The iceberg which is more than twice the size of Manhattan, nearly 54 square miles, broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf  in 2000 and has been tracked by scientists ever since.

Another large iceberg was  sighted by researchers on Macquarie Island in November who were amazed when they glanced out to sea and saw the huge piece of ice drifting just offshore towards New Zealand waters.

“There are now many more smaller icebergs calving off B17B, measuring up to several kilometers in length, and spread over more than a thousand kilometers of ocean,” said Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young.

Glaciologist Neal Young of the Australian Antarctic Division said he was not aware of such a large iceberg being found in the area since the days when 19th century clipper ships plied the trade route between Britain and Australia.

Since its discovery, scientists and maritime authorities have been keeping a close eye on the position of the iceberg using satellites as it slowly drifts north and melts into thousands of different pieces.  Shipping in the current area of the iceberg is reported to be light, however the iceberg does have the potential to move into the more utilized sea lanes of southern Australia.

B17B located fourth from the right when it was near the Ross Ice Shelf off Antartica (NASA)