#Scientists plan mission to iceberg drifting toward island

A team of scientists is being sent to study the world’s biggest iceberg, which is potentially on a collision course with an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, according to reports.

The “A68a” iceberg – which NASA estimates to be roughly the size of Delaware – broke from the Larsen C Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula back in 2017.

The iceberg is currently making its way through the Southern Antarctic Front toward the island of South Georgia, where it threatens to run aground, according to the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

If the iceberg collides with the island, it has the potential to disrupt the wildlife ecosystem and animals’ access to food. Large icebergs can change the temperature of the sea around them and introduce huge volumes of fresh water as they melt, which affects conditions for all marine life – from planktonic organisms to whales, according to The Guardian.

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) will lead the expedition that will see researchers fly out to the Falklands on Jan. 11, where they will quarantine, hop on the RRS James research ship and embark on a three-day voyage to the iceberg.

“Even though icebergs are common, we’ve never had anything this size before, so it’s a first for us,” said Prof. Geraint Tarling, a biological oceanographer at BAS. “It brings a wholesale change to the environment.”

“If the iceberg does ground, we could be looking at this being there for up to 10 years because it’s so large. It’ll be a huge problem,” he continued.

When the supply and research ship arrives at the iceberg, scientists will collect and study animals in the water. They will also launch two robotic submarines, called gliders that will measure the temperature, salinity and levels of phytoplankton in the water around the iceberg, according to the news organization.

As the gliders patrol the area over a four month period, scientists hope to build up a picture of the iceberg’s impact on the environment.

Recent images showed the iceberg was about 60 miles off the coast of South Georgia, according to Povl Abrahamsen, the chief scientist on the BAS mission. It may strike the island this month, according to the Royal Navy.

“It may be the iceberg ends up bumping and scraping along the edge of the shelf or breaks clear of the islands. But it may also get grounded and stay around for months or years. At this stage it’s very difficult to predict what will happen next,” Abrahamsen told The Guardian.