A video of a giant iceberg has been captured floating towards Newfoundland in Canada. The trending video shows the frozen phenomenon drifting towards Canada’s east coast.
The video was shot last month, initially posted on TikTok by Emoinu Oinam, who revealed that it was taken in Conche, Newfoundland. The now-viral video was also reposted on his Instagram account.
“Ever wondered what it is like to walk around Conche? Come join me as I take a walk around and come across an iceberg,” he said on Instagram. Mr Oinam further informed that the town’s population in 2021 was 149.
The area along the east coast of the Newfoundland and Labrador province is famously known as “Iceberg Alley”, a great location for viewing these fascinating blocks of ice. In fact, the size of these icebergs has been increasing in recent years.
According to National Geographic, massive hunks of 10,000-year-old glaciers drift toward Canada’s east coast each year, and social media is helping more travellersfind them.
Spring along the eastern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador is prime time for spotting icebergs and there are many little towns along 1,000 km of coastline.
The chunks of glacier that seemingly disconnect and drift away on their own journeys can be seen by boat, kayak, or on land from all sorts of coastal points — such as Battle Harbour, Red Bay, Twillingate, and Witless Bay.
What are icebergs?
National Geographic says: “Icebergs are large chunks of ice that break off from glaciers. This process is called calving. Icebergs float in the ocean, but are made of frozen freshwater, not saltwater.
“Iceberg patrols now use global-positioning system (GPS) technology to help locate icebergs and prevent more tragedies like the Titanic. In 1999, the National Ice Center lost track of an iceberg the size of the US state of Rhode Island.”
The iceberg was later found drifting towards the Drake Passage, a shipping route south of Argentina. Dr David Long, a principal investigator on Nasa’s SeaWinds science team, used satellite data to track the iceberg, the first time satellite technology was used for that purpose. The SeaWinds team has since used satellites to track the world’s ice.
