World's biggest iceberg 'battered' by waves as it heads north
Antarctic seas but expedition leader Ian Strachan knew his ship was approaching a true behemoth: the world's biggest iceberg lay somewhere ahead.
«Then the clouds lifted and we could see this expansive — almost abstract — white line that extended each way across the horizon,» he told AFP.
As the ship got closer during its visit on Sunday, huge gaping crevasses and beautiful blue arches sculpted into the edge of the iceberg came into focus.
Waves up to four metres (13 feet) high «smashed» and «battered» its wall, breaking off small chunks and collapsing some arches, Strachan said.
He compared sailing along the endless jagged edge to looking at sheet music. «All the cracks and arches were different notes as the song played.»
The tooth-shaped iceberg named A23a is nearly 4,000 square kilometres (1,550 square miles) across, making it more than twice the size of Greater London.
After three decades stuck to the Antarctic ocean floor, the iceberg is now heading north on what could be its final journey.
It contains an estimated one trillion tonnes of fresh water that is likely to melt off into the ocean along way.
The iceberg, which is up to 400 metres thick in places, is currently drifting between Elephant Island and the South Orkney islands.
'Magical'
Strachan was speaking to AFP as his ship, run by the expeditions firm EYOS, was wrapping up a private tour of the Antarctic Peninsula.
It had been planning to go to South Georgia island but due to a bird flu outbreak there, it visited A23a instead.
It was not the first ship to witness the majesty of the iceberg.
The UK's RRS Sir David Attenborough was travelling to Antarctica on a scientific mission last
