Massive iceberg pivots, breaks near south Atlantic penguin colony island

FILE PHOTO: A satellite image of the A-68A iceberg near South Georgia island in the South Atlantic, taken November 21, 2020. Picture taken November 21, 2020. NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite image/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Strong currents have taken hold of a massive Antarctic iceberg that is on a collision course towards South Georgia Island, causing it to shift direction and lose a major chunk of mass, a scientist tracking its journey said on Friday.

As the iceberg, dubbed A68a, approached the western shelf edge of the south Atlantic island this week, it encountered strong currents, causing it to pivot nearly 180 degrees, according to Geraint Tarling, a biological oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey.