It’s also a natural process happening more frequently because of human-caused climate change, said British Antarctic Survey physical oceanographer Andrew Meijers, who examined the iceberg up close in December 2023 when it drifted past the research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough.

Iceberg A23a is on a collision course with the remote British island of South Georgia, which provides an Antarctic haven for penguins and seals.

The size of Rhode Island, the iceberg is heading toward South Georgia Island off Antarctica, jeopardizing the penguins and seals who call it home.