After three decades stuck to the Antarctic sea floor, the iceberg is heading northeast, being battered by waves in what is thought to be its final months. It is estimated to weigh nearly a trillion tonnes and be 400 metres (1,300 feet) thick at its deepest points. (Photo by Richard Sidey / EYOS Expeditions / AFP)
Even now, in this age of technological advancement, it is, thankfully, still possible to be gobsmacked by the beauty of nature.
Those people fortunate enough to have seen it can testify that A23a is just such an amazing attraction.
It is the biggest iceberg in the world – at 4 000km2 in extent, it is more than twice the size of Greater Johannesburg… and that’s only the part you can see, because most of it is below the surface of the Antarctic Ocean.
A23a first broke off the Antarctic coast in 1986, making it the world’s largest iceberg. But then it became stuck to the ocean floor – until 2020, when scientists suggested satellite images showed it was wobbling.
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Late last year, it broke free and started drifting north, where it is losing huge chunks daily as it gets battered by waves.
Whether or not this was caused by climate change – winter Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest level on record last year – remains an open question.
Yet it is a thing of beauty – especially when you realise that its deepest blue ice will have been formed in prehistoric times.
It’s an incredible, living – but gradually disappearing – fossil.
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