World's biggest iceberg 'A68a' causes threat to wildlife

'A68a' the world's biggest iceberg is heading towards the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia, in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and this could be an issue for sea life!

There is concern that the enormous iceberg could become stuck in shallow water and lodge itself offshore, close to where wildlife lives.

That could be bad news for the animals living there, like penguins and seals, who might have to travel further to get food for their young.

The massive chunk of ice broke off from Antarctica back in 2017, and scientists have been following its path ever since.

The huge iceberg is a similar size to the county of Somerset (4,200 sq km), and weighs hundreds of billions of tonnes.

It's progress is being monitored by satellites which have sensors which can see through clouds so they can watch what's going on even in bad weather.

The worry is that if it gets stuck it could be there for up to ten years because it is so big.

Scientists who are following the iceberg are concerned that when it becomes stuck, it will block the routes that penguins and seals both use to go to hunt.

Professor Tarling from the British Antarctic Survey said "the actual distance they have to travel to find food (fish and krill) really matters. If they have to do a big detour, it means they're not going to get back to their young in time to prevent them starving to death".

It's not only penguins and sea lions that will be affected, any creatures that live on the seafloor could be crushed by the weight of the iceberg.

Not all the impacts would be negative though, for example, icebergs bring with them enormous quantities of dust that will fertilise the ocean plankton around them, and this with then provide food for animals up the food chain.

Although satellite imagery suggests A68a is on a direct path for South Georgia, it might yet escape capture.

Anything is possible, says BAS remote-sensing and mapping specialist Dr Peter Fretwell: "The currents should take it on what looks like a strange loop around the south end of South Georgia, before then spinning it along the edge of the continental shelf and back off to the northwest.

"But it's very difficult to say precisely what will happen" he said.

If it heads northwards then scientists believe there is a good chance that the ice will start to break up as it gets into rougher and warmer waters.