While arctic ice patrols and real-time satellite imagery has made iceberg avoidance routine, some ship captains still seek the thrill of getting close to these ice-cold arctic behemoths. Lucky for us, most of these thrill seekers take video cameras with them.

Labrador

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Filmed by Mike Earle this video shows an iceberg collapses off the National Historic District of Battle Harbour, Labrador. And, sorry Mike, Icebergs aren’t always “attached to the bottom” as you mention in the video.

Too Close For Comfort

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If you think a cruise ship “flyby” is dangerous in the warm waters of the Italian coast then close your eyes for the next video because Captain Francesco Schettino certainly has nothing on the captain of Antarctic Dream. Watch as he wrestles an iceberg with the bow of his ship.

Flying Shrapnel

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Crashing your ship into an iceberg is a dumb way to get your thrills but it’s not half as crazy as these videos of rock hard ice being thrown by claving bergs.

Capsize

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Ice melts in water, so what happens when the bottom of an iceberg melts leaving a massive amount of ice up top? Capsize!

“Tsunami” of Ice

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Filmed by a local resident, this footage shows a massive wave that was generated by the calving of an iceberg into the sea. The wave is small at first, but builds in size crashing into a nearby coast where fishing boats are tossed and broken apart.

This image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NAS's Terra spacecraft was acquired Nov. 13, 2011, and covers an area of 27 by 32 miles (44 by 52 kilometers), and is located near 74.9 degrees south latitude, 101.1 degrees west longitude. Photo: NASA

In recognition of the start of the 2012 Ice Season, which typically runs from February through July, we bring you this photo showing a massive crack across the Pine Island Glacier, a major ice stream that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The crack was first discovered in mid-October when NASA scientists working studying the Pine Island Glacier saw a major rift in the ice during a an exploratory flyover.

Scientists say that the crack, which extends for 19 miles and is 260 feet wide by 195 feet deep, will eventually extend all the way across the glacier and calve a giant iceberg measuring some 350 square miles.

VIDEO: NASA scientist discover the crack in the Pine Island Glacier

Close up of the crack in the Pine Island Glacier. Photo: NASA

Photo via Fastcompany

So what’s the easiest way to get fresh drinking water to the billion+ thirsty people of the world?  Well, according to French engineer Georges Mougin, the key may lie in the freshwater icebergs of the arctic.  Using today’s 3-D technology, satellite data, oceanic forecasting and tugboats, Mougin believes the task is more feasible than ever, and he should know…

In the 70′s, Mougin starting working with Saudi prince Mohammad al-Faisal on a business venture called “Iceberg Transport International”.  Their business plan? To tow a massive arctic iceberg using sailcloth and plastic to the Red Sea.  Needless to say, outlandish costs ultimately led to the companies demise.  Today, some 35 years of technology advancements later, Mougin is still at it and his ideas may just be more possible than ever.

His system can be boiled down into 3 simple yet extremely technologically advanced steps:

Step 1: Find the right iceberg, not too big, but not too small either.
Step 2: Wrap a geotextile “skirt” around it.
Step 3: Tow it before it melts.

Read the full details at Fastcompany.com.

On Aug. 5, 2010, a massive island of ice, roughly 97 square miles (251 square kilometers) in size or 4 times the size of Manhattan, broke off the Petermann Glacier, along the northwestern coast of Greenland.  Scientists from the Canadian Ice Service project the chunk of ice to be moving toward the Nares Strait, which separates Greenland’s northwestern coast and Canada’s Ellsemere Island.  While the iceberg poses no immediate threat, it could eventually threaten Canada’s offshore platforms in the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and major shipping lanes.  The Canadian Ice Service however estimates that the journey could take one to two years and it’s likely to break up as it weathers and moves through warmer waters.

Icebergs calving off the Petermann Glacier are not unusual. Petermann Glacier’s floating ice tongue is the Northern Hemisphere’s largest, and it has occasionally calved large icebergs.  The recently calved iceberg is the largest to form in the Arctic since 1962, said the University of Delaware.

Keep reading after the jump for more pictures released by NASA.

Above image taken at 17:15 UTC on July 28, 2010

Above image taken at 18:05 UTC on August 5, 2010

Above image credit: NASA

Press reports from around the world are reporting info on the above.

Here’s an excerpt from the  Guardian UK:

A vast hunk of floating ice has broken away from the Antarctic peninsula, threatening the collapse of a much larger ice shelf behind it, in a development that has shocked climate scientists.

Satellite images show that about 160 square miles of the Wilkins ice shelf has been lost since the end of February, leaving the ice interior now “hanging by a thread”.

A video clip is here.

The complete Guardian post is here.

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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.