There will be fewer icebergs in the future. Tourists are treasuring them while they can
Land and Sea heads to Twillingate, where some businesses depend on icebergs
Spring is on the horizon in Newfoundland and Labrador, and you can be sure many tourists and tourism operators have their fingers crossed for icebergs this year.
"When I see people's reactions and everybody so happy … I've got to say, I love it.," said Chris Scott, who operates Twillingate Adventure Tours.
He says there's no feeling like showing an iceberg to someone who's never seen one before.
However, there have been very few icebergs off the coast in recent years.
Temperatures are rising, and that means northern ice is melting faster.
Frederic Cyr, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada oceanographer in Newfoundland and Labrador, monitors icebergs as part of his work.
Cyr says researchers have been counting icebergs since the time of the Titanic, when that most famous iceberg brought down the luxury liner in 1912.
The International Ice Patrol is operated by the U.S. coast guard and funded by 13 countries, including Canada.
The patrol conducts aerial surveys and counts the number of bergs that cross a virtual line at 48 degrees north.
"In a normal year there would be between 700 and 800 icebergs … but it varies a lot," he said.
"For example, some years I'm thinking of 2019, there was more than 1,500. In 2021, there was only one … and this could be due to climate change, for example," said Cyr.
Cyr says seeing icebergs in the future could become a much rarer event than in the past.
"What we would probably see is the number of years where there's very few, or none at all, could increase. It doesn't mean that, from one day to the next there will be no more icebergs," said Cyr.
"But I think the frequency of years with very few icebergs will become permanent any time soon," said Cyr.
The Land and Sea team visited Twillingate during the 2022 iceberg season. Watch the episode "Iceberg Impressions" by clicking the video player above, and learn more about the people who study and admire these waning white towers of ice.
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