Photographs of a couple “camping” on top of an iceberg in Twillingate, Newfoundland have left a rural town in Canada mystified.
The pictures were taken by local resident and nurse Sarah Rice, who was tipped off about reportedly strange objects on a nearby iceberg.
“A co-worker came into work saying she thinks she sees something on the iceberg and I said I’ll get my camera and go see what I can see,” Rice wrote on Facebook.
From the vantage point of a causeway between Twillingate and New World Island, Rice zoomed in on the chunk of ice, and photographed what appeared to be two people with kayaks and a camping tent on it.
She told CBC News: “It looked like someone had staged a camping scene.”
Rice also expressed her disbelief that someone had been able to scale the iceberg, which “would be several feet over your head” if your boat was in the water.
“I’m all for thrill-seekers,” she added, “[but] after seeing icebergs that have foundered and flipped within seconds, [it’s] very unsafe for sure.”
The “campers” have not been located or identified yet.
According to the local coast guard, they have not returned to the dangerous campsite since Rice photographed them on 15 June.
Commenting on Ms Rice’s original Facebook post, one user wrote: “Ummm these people have to be tourists.. there’s no way someone who grew up with these massive beautiful ice sculptures would ever do something that stupid lol”.
Another comment read: “Maybe they had no idea of the dangers of an iceberg. Someone must have warned them about the dangers and how reckless they were being.”
As the interest in Ms Rice’s sighting increased, she updated her post with an appeal.
“While it was cool to see and no doubt a thrill for these people, please don’t climb up on icebergs. Stay safe and remember to spread love & kindness,” she wrote.
The coastline of Twillingate, which is home to 2,200 people, is interspersed with icebergs during the summer months, according to National Post.
The town is therefore nicknamed the “Iceberg Capital of the World”.
