Huge Iceberg Runs Aground

The world’s largest iceberg appears to have run aground near Antarctica, posing more problems to scientific bases and penguin colonies, where tens of thousands of chicks face starvation, scientists said.

Experts had predicted that B15A -- a 100-mile-long iceberg -- would probably slam into a huge glacier near the U.S. McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica last weekend.

But the iceberg appeared to have run aground about three miles from the glacier, known as the Drygalski Ice Tongue, said Dean Peterson, science strategy manager for the government research organization Antarctica New Zealand.

“This berg has wedged itself between two shallow areas,” Peterson said Thursday. “It’s kind of shimmying back and forth now ... so I don’t know whether it’s ever going to get to the Drygalski or not.”

B15A has blocked wind and water currents that break up ice floes in McMurdo Sound during the Antarctic summer, causing a buildup of ice behind it. McMurdo Station and New Zealand’s Scott Base are located on the sound, and Italy’s Terra Nova base is nearby.

The iceberg and the ice buildup are in the path of ships expected to arrive in Antarctica soon with fuel and food for the stations. Officials say the bases are not immediately in danger of running out of supplies.

The ice blockage also threatens penguin breeding colonies, with tens of thousands of Adele penguin chicks facing starvation as parent birds are forced to trudge up to 110 miles to open sea to gather food.

Scientists had hoped a collision between the iceberg and glacier would cause the iceberg to drift away from the coast and out to sea, clearing the blocked routes.