Theresa Gossman, Matthew Gascoyne, Christopher Grey / BA
Icebergue A23a
It has an area larger than the entire metropolitan area of Lisbon and has been loose since last year. Now, if you get stuck, you should not be danger to biodiversity, but if you stop it can still be a threat.
The largest iceberg in the world should have been about 70 kilometers from an isolated island of Antarctica, avoiding a collision against an important place of wildlife, a British institution announced on Tuesday.
The ice platform, known as A23A, which has a 3,360 kilometers surface (More than the entire Metropolitan area of Lisbon) and a weight of about billion tons, it was drifting and on its way to the island of Georgia do Sul, being taken from December powerful ocean currents.
This situation reports the France-Presse (AFP) agency, led to fears that it could collide or ran into less deep waters of the island, and could imply the feeding of penguins and seals.
This Tuesday, the British Antarctic Survey states that the iceberg has stored about 73 kilometers of island since March 1.
However, as ecologist Mark Belchier says, the island is not totally free of danger: “if the resulting icebergos can be paraded, they may constitute a danger to the ships, Once they move in local currents and can restrict vessel access to local fishing zones. ”
Fishermen can also be obliged fighting large pieces of ice And this may affect some pinguins-macacos that feed on the area.
“If the iceberg remains stranded, We do not expect it to significantly affect local fauna“Says oceanographer Andrew Meijers, responsible for monitoring the platform.
Since then, it has made a slow trip to the north, occasionally delayed by ocean forces.
In January, a piece of 19 kilometers broke, although scientists cannot accurately predict the effects on the A23A trajectory and future.
“The future of all iceberments will die. It is very surprising to see that the A23a lasted so long and only lost about a quarter of its area, ”says Professor Huw Griffiths.
