Discover! >> World’s Largest Iceberg Is On A Devastating Collision Course With A Remote British Island

The world’s biggest iceberg is on a devastating collision course with a remote British island, scientists have warned. A23a is a ‘megaberg’ that measured around 1,540 square miles at its peak – twice the size of Greater London.

The megaberg recently broke free from its position north of the South Orkney Islands, and began drifting in the Southern Ocean.

Over the last few weeks, large slabs have started breaking off the megaberg, leaving a main section measuring around 1,351 square miles – roughly the size of Cornwall.

Now, it’s just 173 miles away from South Georgia – a British territory and wildlife haven that’s home to thousands of penguins and seals.

Simon Wallace, captain of the South Georgia government vessel, Pharos, warned that the iceberg is dangerously close to grounding and smashing into pieces.

Worryingly, these pieces could linger for years – wreaking havoc for sailors and fishermen trying to navigate the waters.

The iceberg originally calved from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf back in 1986. It then remained grounded on the seabed in the Weddell Sea, before beginning its slow journey north in 2020.

In February last year, the iceberg became trapped in a Taylor Column – a phenomenon where rotating water above a seamount traps objects in place. This kept A23a spinning on the spot, delaying its expected rapid drift north. However, in December, images captured by satellites overhead confirmed that the iceberg had broken free.

At the time, scientists called the news ‘exciting’.

‘It’s exciting to see A23a on the move again after periods of being stuck,’ said Dr Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

‘We are interested to see if it will take the same route the other large icebergs that have calved off Antarctica have taken.’

While every iceberg’s journey is unique, most follow the same general path, according to NASA.

‘More than 90 percent of bergs around Antarctica enter the clockwise-flowing current of the Weddell Gyre off East Antarctica and eventually escape, shooting north along the Antarctic Peninsula and finally out across the Drake Passage into warmer South Atlantic waters—an ocean route known as “iceberg alley,”‘ the space agency explained.

However, fresh concerns have been raised about its proximity to South Georgia.