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Icebergs drifting towards NZ
15/11/2006 09:52 - (SA)
Wellington - Ships sailing near southern New Zealand have been warned of icebergs after several - some bigger than houses - were reported within 76km of the coast, officials said on Wednesday.
One iceberg, reported by a fishing boat as 200m long and 50m high, was headed westward toward South Island's east coast, said Maritime New Zealand senior adviser Steve Corbett.
Corbett said other icebergs, reported as being about the size of houses, were drifting nearby.
They were among about 100 spotted south of New Zealand on November 3, being pushed northward by winds and ocean currents.
A maritime navigation warning was issued at the time.
Scientists had said earlier that it was not unusual to see icebergs so far from the Antarctic coastal region, where they had broken off the ice shelf - but that they were expected to melt as they drifted toward the New Zealand coastline.
Oceanographer Mike Williams said on Wednesday that winds from a series of southern storms probably had driven some of the bergs close to South Island.
"They're surviving a bit longer than I initially expected and some of them have taken a different route than I initially expected," Williams said.
"It's highlighted that trying to forecast what icebergs do is actually very, very hard," he said. "(But) they're definitely not going to get bigger" as they drift further from Antarctica.
It was likely the iceberg seen moving toward the coast will soon be visible from land, and given its size "it should survive for a while", Williams said.
"They're sneaky little things," he said.
Marine radio operator John McLellan said that ships in the area should have been given accurate information about the icebergs much earlier.
"If anyone slams into that, it is all over," the Otago Daily Times newspaper on Wednesday quoted him as saying.
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