Ice Island Reaches Labrador

After 11 months since it calved off the northwestern coast of Greenland, this massive ice island is now wandering around off the coast of Labrador, Canada, caught int he ocean currents.

Formed when a 251-square-kilometer (97-square-mile) chunk of ice broke off the Petermann Glacier on August 5, 2010, the Canadian Ice Service has been tracking the island via satellite and radio beacon.

The image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on June 25, 2011. The island is being reported as being 62 square kilometers in area and weighing between 3.5 and 4 billion tons.

Unsurprisingly it has deteriorated in its journey of almost 3,000 kilometres, but authorities are a little nervous as it gets closer to the coast, worrying that the massive ice island could eventually pose a threat to offshore oil platforms.

Canadian crab fisherman Eldred Burden caught footage of the massive island, seen below.

Hopefully the United States won’t get wind of this island, or they’ll be trying to transport their prisoners from Gitmo.

Source: NASA Earth Observatory

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top