A Giant Iceberg Has Arrived Next To Canada – And The Internet Doesn't Know What To Do With Itself

Reactions range from pure panic to jokes that Game of Thrones must be real after all.
A giant iceberg has landed on Newfoundland's doorstep
A giant iceberg has landed on Newfoundland's doorstep
Twitter @SpriterTeam

A giant wall of ice has drifted to the shores of Canadian island, Newfoundland, prompting a whole sea of responses on Twitter.

This area is known for iceberg chasing, a phenomenon where tourists try in to see the beasts up close whenever they pop up along “Iceberg Alley”, the stretch of the water next to the eastern coast of the province, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Around 90% of icebergs are all old parts of Greenland’s glaciers while the rest come from Canada’s Arctic. They break off the larger ice sheets when temperatures rise in the summer, although the behemoths normally only last a few months.

🇨🇦 A giant iceberg has sailed to the Canadian island of Newfoundland pic.twitter.com/lPJ0xSCvDO

— Spriter Team (@SpriterTeam) August 1, 2023

It’s a yearly phenomenon, and the glacial masses can be seen from around the coast on clear days. They can range in colours too, being both snow-white and aquamarine, according to the province’s official website.

The icebergs can also be enormous – the largest one ever recorded was found in 2021, at 135km in length and 25km in width and it moved towards South Georgia.

However, it’s thought that these visiting icebergs are becoming more common now because of the climate crisis and the overall threat to the Earth’s ice caps.

A 2019 study from the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found Greenland’s glaciers are melting four times faster than previously estimated.

But, on July 21 this year, the US Coast Guard and International Ice Patrol (an organisation which was set up after an iceberg sank the Titanic in 1912) estimated that there are 2,065 icebergs north of the Labrador region all in open water.

Although that sounds like a lot, that’s actually “mostly below normal in the region”, according to the experts who compare this year’s data to the last few decades, and concluded only 380 of these icebergs expected to drift further south.

Still – that doesn’t stop the arrival of the latest enormous one on Newfoundland’s doorstep from shocking the internet.

Here’s a look at some of the best reactions to one of nature’s most bizarre feats:

Check to see if a king is on there https://t.co/MEUBfbfUC4

— Jef3 ☀︎ (@Flareableguy123) August 2, 2023

spectacular news for girls like me who love chewing on ice https://t.co/pHLarxYj9o

— a. (@machiiavelliian) August 2, 2023

Ok own up. Who moved the ice wall? https://t.co/TLAsmkm5ZH

— Take That, Clouds (@TakeThatClouds) August 2, 2023

Ice, Ice baby https://t.co/kLyd57TNzV

— Eight Public Relations (@EightPR) August 2, 2023

Imagine you’re living in that gaff there and you see this as you wake up. https://t.co/emmUYs3MUU

— Cam (@Camtana25) August 2, 2023

Uhhh... blow the horn to alert the Night's Watch. https://t.co/MyMlGXOX8s

— Lon Harris (@Lons) August 2, 2023

I mean, at least the end times have some inspired visuals https://t.co/U6D1hEkR0v

— Bernardo (@queefneyspearz) August 2, 2023

oh wow even Icebergs are mad at Justin Trudeau! https://t.co/nzFabAT9Ia

— chuck harrison (@0SweetSolace0) August 2, 2023

Go home iceberg you’re drunk! https://t.co/kkA1GYLJDp

— 𝕬𝖑𝖊𝖝 💎 (@r8dr4lfe75) August 1, 2023

This is quite literally terrifying https://t.co/1OlF3GHvWM

— Saeed Kidwai (@saeedkidwai) August 1, 2023

Today is a lot… https://t.co/iv8gyMo21f

— symphani (@SymphaniSoto) August 2, 2023
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