Where is b 15 iceberg now

Since then its BA section has drifted into McMurdo Sound, where its presence blocked ocean currents and led to a build-up of sea ice that decimated local penguin colonies, deprived of open waters for feeding. During the spring of this year prevailing currents took BA slowly past the Drygalski ice tongue. A full-fledged collision failed to take place, but a glancing blow broke the end off Drygalski in mid-April. The stretch of Victoria Land coast parallel to BA's current position is unusually rich in wildlife, noted for colonies of Adelie penguins as well as Weddell seals and Skuas.

If BA were to remain in its current position for any prolonged length of time, the danger is that the iceberg could pin sea-ice behind it, blocking the easy access to open water that local animal inhabitants currently enjoy. When iceberg B first broke away , it measured about nautical miles long and 20 nautical miles wide. That equates to an area of 3, square nautical miles, or about the size of Connecticut. B has since fractured into numerous smaller bergs, and most have melted away.

Just four pieces remain that meet the minimum size requirement—at least 20 square nautical miles—to be tracked by the National Ice Center. When astronauts aboard the International Space Station shot this photograph on May 22, , BZ measured 10 nautical miles long and 5 nautical miles wide. But the iceberg may not be tracked much longer if it splinters into smaller pieces. Over the years, B broke up into smaller and smaller pieces, one of which is coffin-shaped BT. This sealed its fate, as once they leave the Antarctic, no current will carry it southward again.

Winter is ending in the southern hemisphere, so the waters are warming. The iceberg got its coffin shape over time, as it broke off of its parent and suffered repeated collisions with other icebergs, coastal bedrock, and the ice shelf.

According to NASA, icebergs have been known to rapidly melt once they drift into this region. A large fracture is already visible at BZ's center, and smaller pieces are crumbling away from its edges. B will be missed. But its fans may take solace in knowing that, thanks to climate change , another "largest iceberg ever" will probably break away soon enough.