Life is tough. I mean, just think – July in Greenland. The sun never sets. It’s usually warm, sometimes hot. And when you roll out of bed in the morning – if you even remembered to go to bed (more difficult than you might think) – this is what you have to look at. Another iceberg floating very slowly past the bay.
Beautiful, right?
Almost.
I mean, yes, it’s beautiful, but this particular berg seen from our living room window on the island of Uummannaq, is a big one. It has a pool of meltwater on the “surface” – think floating swimming pool – and it is X times deeper below sea level than it is above. I say “X” times because I don’t know, and I can’t quite find the rule of thumb, although I seem to remember reading that we only see a ninth of a berg. Not sure about that. Either way, it gives an idea of how deep the water is just a few metres from the island.
What I am sure about is if the berg calves or rolls it will send a tsunami wave into the the bay, destroying anything that isn’t out of the water and on high ground. I’ve mentioned this before, but you can see the difference between tourists/new arrivals and the locals when big bergs come close to the island.
The tourist and new arrival looks at the berg and says “Ooooooh,” etc. and reaches for the camera.
The local calls family and friends to tell them to move their boats, dogs… everything!
Oh, and this berg was a tiddler!
Chris
Leave a Reply