World’s largest iceberg is breaking into thousands of pieces — sparking new danger for wildlife and ships

The iceberg goeth? The world’s largest iceberg, A23, is fragmenting into smaller pieces, potentially jeopardizing both humans and the millions of penguins in the neighboring Antarctic

refuge. Alarming photos snapped by NASA’s Aqua satellite have revealed that the periphery of the frozen mass is beginning to break apart, particularly along its northern edge, turning the

surrounding area into an icy minefield. “Thousands of iceberg pieces litter the ocean surface near the main berg, creating a scene reminiscent of a dark starry night,” wrote representatives

with the space agency, Live Science reported. This marks the culmination of an epic voyage for the so-called mega-berg, which boasts a surface area of 1,200 square miles — making it the

largest iceberg in the world. EXPLORE MORE After being trapped on the ocean floor since 1986, the colossal ice cube broke away from its position several years back, and drifted into the

Southern Ocean. A23’s floe state was interrupted again in 2024, when it became stranded in a spinning vortex, before eventually breaking free and resuming its journey North. Then in January,

the mega-berg was spotted making a bee-line for South Georgia Island — a British territory known for its unique wildlife — but ground to a halt just 60 miles offshore, which scientists

believe could be A23’s final resting place. While the sheet thankfully didn’t run aground on the island, this frozen cluster bomb could still potentially threaten the millions of penguins

and seals that reside there. Penguins could potentially need to navigate hundreds of miles around the moored ice mass to reach their feeding grounds while the mega-berg’s meltwater could

affect the temperature and salinity of the surrounding sea. In 2004, some of South Georgia’s resident penguin chicks and seal pups died after an ice island named A38 broke off and obstructed

their feeding routes. Researchers hope A23’s location far off the coast will hopefully mitigate its impact on the ecosystem. Unfortunately, animals might not be the only ones who might be

in danger during the ice floe’s death throes. Some of these fragments measure over half a mile wide and could therefore “pose a risk to ships,” according to NASA. The largest berg — which

measures around 50 square miles — is currently drifting south out of view of the satellite photo. The situation perhaps inspires flashbacks of an incident in 2023 that occurred when a floe

named A76 came close to grounding and left a veritable icy obstacle course in its wake. “Those pieces basically cover the island (South Georgia) — we have to work our way through it,” said

Captain Simon Wallace, who helms the South Georgia government vessel Pharos. His crew has searchlights “on all night” so they won’t be blindsided by a berg. Despite literally falling to

pieces, A23 won’t be going away overnight as researchers estimate that it will take months or even years for the frozen juggernaut to disintegrate entirely. In the interim, A23 will likely

lose its title of world’s biggest iceberg. As of A23, the sheet is only around 12 square miles larger than the next-biggest iceberg, D15A.