Icebergs appear off northern Iceland as giant ice island breaks apart

Several icebergs have been spotted near Iceland’s coast this summer, with two now drifting off Hraun on Skagi in northern Iceland, mbl.is reports. Most of the ice has come from an ice island located between Iceland and Greenland.

Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, a geographer at the University of Iceland, said it was normal to see icebergs near Iceland at this time of year, although there had been more of them this summer than in recent years.

“Late summer and autumn are the time when they mostly come towards the country, while sea ice itself is usually seen in spring and winter,” she said.

The ice island is currently about 3.5 kilometres long, more than two kilometres wide and tens of metres thick, Jónsdóttir said. It has drifted south slowly for most of the summer and made various turns in the Greenland Strait. Pieces have been continually breaking away from it, adding to the number of icebergs in the area.

She said the icebergs shown in photographs were not considered particularly large by mariners. “They look quite big to people, but when seafarers classify icebergs, a much larger object is required,” she said.

The Icelandic Coast Guard’s operations centre received a photograph of an iceberg north of Iceland on Friday and again on Sunday, when a crew member on an Icelandic fishing vessel reported its location.

Ásgeir Erlendsson, a Coast Guard information officer, said a navigation warning was issued to alert people at sea to the position of the ice.