A23a is one of the oldest icebergs in the world, and is also the largest, measuring around 3,500 km2 and 400 meters thick.
The iceberg is rotating north from Antarctica towards South Georgia, a British territory known for its wildlife paradise, and is on a collision course with the island, possibly putting animals such as penguins and seals in danger.
This is not the first large iceberg to threaten South Georgia and Sandwich Islands. In 2004, one of them, called A38, ran aground on the continental shelf, leaving penguin chicks and seal pups dead on the beaches after large chunks of ice blocked their access to feeding grounds, as may happen now too.”
“South Georgia is in iceberg alley, so impacts to both fisheries and wildlife are expected, and both have great adaptive capacity,” says Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the South Georgia government.