A23A – THE LAST MOMENTS OF A FROZEN GIANT

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Along with scientists around the world, fishermen and sailors, we currently have our anxious eyes glued on satellite pictures as they are monitoring the daily movements of an iceberg touted to be the world’s largest (more than twice the size of London) and also one of the oldest. It is feared that the iceberg A23a, on the move for more than a month now, is headed north from Antarctica and is on a collision course with either South Georgia or South Sandwich islands, in the South Atlantic. The ice mass is estimated to weigh nearly a trillion tons. The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands have a rich biodiversity and are home to one of the world’s largest Marine Protected Areas. According to satellite images, it appears to have maintained its structure and is yet to break up into smaller chunks.

 

ZAVODOVSKI VOLCANO, in the South Sandwich island, host the largest penguin colony in the world.

To document its last moments, our team are about to embark aboard 2 ships: the fully chartered Kotick ( a 50′ sailing vessel, see pict herewih) and the Ortelius ( a cruise ship) early February. During 8 weeks, we will dive, fly, measure, film the agonizing giant and the possible damages for wildlife. Cinematography will be done using 6 to 8K camera, to create the beauty of the beast in minute details. The resulting films – one science, one wildlife, one immersive –  will be aired soon on several public broadcasters and theatres around the world, whose names will be soon revealed.

Kotick (top) et Ortelius (below) are ice-proof ships with countless visits to South Georgia or the Weddell sea

A23A – twice the size of London – is a tabular iceberg – 30 meters high, 300 meters deep
The latest satellite view reveals large cracks on one side of the iceberg as wide as 150 meters.

 

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