About 250 icebergs, the largest cluster in 5 years, are drifting through transatlantic shipping routes south off Labrador, says the coast guard.
“The shipping that is going through there are reporting numerous bergs,” said Peter Veber, Atlantic superintendent of ice operations, “We have a ship operating up on the Labrador coast and likewise our own people are saying that they’re seeing more now than we’ve seen for years up there.”
Veber said the cluster includes a variety of icebergs, from smaller “growlers” that hiss and groan as they melt, to bergy bits and towering white-blue sculptures carved by the sea. Most likely, they come from glaciers that creep over the surface of Greenland and eventually snap into the sea.
Despite their large numbers, Veber said the icebergs are unusually far north this year and it’s not clear how many will eventually be seen off Newfoundland. Sea currents and the warmth of the air and water help to determine where big ice moves and how fast, Veber said.
Every summer visitors from across Canada and around the world come to the region to try to see an iceberg.
With files from CBC.
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