TORONTO -- The biggest iceberg on the planet is making its way out into the Southern Ocean.
Satellite images show 鈥淎68鈥� steadily floating away from Antarctica. The visuals, released by satellite imagery company , detail the iceberg鈥檚 journey between January 2019 and January 2020:
Here鈥檚 the same video with the iceberg highlighted:
The 6,000 km² chunk of ice broke off from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017. It stayed relatively stationary for a couple of years, but really started to travel last summer.
Here鈥檚 imagery from the European Union Earth Observation Programme showing it breaking off:
A68 is about the size of Prince Edward Island, and is currently the world鈥檚 largest iceberg. It鈥檚 not quite as big as B15, however, which had an area of 11,000 km² when it broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf 2000. B15 has since broken up into smaller icebergs.
A68 so far has maintained most of its size since setting sail, but researchers expect it to diminish once it hits the open ocean.
