British scientists are tracking two enormous icebergs that broke off from and could intrude on shipping lanes.
The smaller of the icebergs is called A81 and it's bigger than , according to the . Its larger travel companion is called A76a.
The Royal Research Ship Discovery inspected the latter berg as it entered the southern .
"It was directly in our path as we sailed home so we took 24 hours out to go around it," British oceanographer . It's slowly approaching the , which are a British territory. Researchers' biggest concern is that A76a would get grounded and further break into smaller pieces that could obstruct shipping and fishing operations.
NASA said in October that a that broke from the world's largest iceberg, A76, was floating in the Drake Passage off of , . Such icebergs typically melt as they enter warmer waters near the equator.
in February after being weakly tethered to the mainland for years, according to .
It's expected to follow A76a's path and also poses potential inconveniences to ships. Researchers flying from the United Kingdom's recently photographed the small portion of the iceberg that could be seen above water.
Both icebergs — up to 90% of which are underwater — could weigh a trillion tons, the reports.
While icebergs can be disruptive, they also bring fresh water to sea life as their frozen surfaces melt.
