An iceberg can be seen in the water at Quidi Vidi, in St. John's, N.L., a quaint fishing village. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tara Brautigam
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Residents of a quaint fishing village in the provincial capital are enjoying a rare spectacle, even for Newfoundland, with the sight of an iceberg jammed in the mouth of a rocky harbour.
The iceberg, one of several dotting the eastern shores of the Avalon Peninsula, has been stuck for days in Quidi Vidi and attracting a steady flow of onlookers curious to get a glimpse.
Winds coming in from the north Atlantic and brushing against the berg left a noticeable chill in the air.
"It really takes your breath away - not only how cold it is, but the sheer size of it," said Kevin Baker, visiting from Surrey, B.C., with his wife and 22-month-old son.
"You don't get to see this kind of stuff out our way."
The flotilla of icebergs that drift along Newfoundland's east coast makes for an annual summer treat for locals and tourists alike.
But it's unusual for one to become stuck in the narrow passage, roughly 100 metres in width, leading to Quidi Vidi.
"I've seen them a number of times, but they don't be in as close as they are there now," said 63-year-old Jack Simmons, a lifelong resident of the neighbourhood.
"I probably give it another week or so and it'll be all gone."
Arctic icebergs are carved from the west coast of Greenland and take about two to three years to make the 3,300-kilometre trip to Newfoundland. They can float as far south as Bermuda.
It's estimated that the Greenland ice cap produces anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 icebergs annually, but only several hundred make it to Newfoundland's Grand Banks.
Most are diverted into straits or bays, grounded in fjords along Baffin Island and the Labrador coast or simply crumble before anyone sees them.
"Part of Newfoundland's heritage, I guess. It makes it a bit colder here though," said Neil Hanlon, a 22-year-old St. John's resident who went to see the iceberg in Quidi Vidi.
"Not a lot of places around Canada can say they can go pop on a hill and see an iceberg, so it's something cool."
Simmons was amused by all the fuss the berg generated.
"To me, it's just a hunk of ice, you know?" he laughed.
"There's a lot of people who haven't seen it. I guess they think it's something fantastic."
The ice that makes up these white wonders is made of fresh water and is generally believed to be at least 12,000 years old.
Their size is deceptive - about 90 per cent of an iceberg's mass lies beneath the water's surface.
While they're a marvellous sight to behold, they can be very hazardous to ships.
The extremely dense ice is capable of tearing through the hulls of ships or toppling them over - as one did during the April 14, 1912, sinking of the Titanic.
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Article online since May 1st 2008, 0:00
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