labradore

"We can't allow things that are inaccurate to stand." — The Word of Our Dan, February 19, 2008.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Petermania (VIII): Return of the Red Menace

It's back to the Terra 3-6-7 band false-colour image from around mid-day today, to help tease out the ice island from some high-altitude fair-weather clouds, and possibly some low-lying fog banks, that conceal its appearance slightly in the visual frequencies:

Source image: NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response

Several other large bergs can still be seen on the enlarged image, especially in nearshore waters in Camp Bay, the Strait of Belle Isle, and Hare Bay. A group of large ones, near the Labrador side of the Straits west, and slightly south of Belle Isle, seem to be aground on Bay Shoal, a well-known phenomenon. The 1887 Admiralty pilot for Newfoundland and Labrador states:

About 2 1/2 miles S. by W. from the east point of Wreck Bay lies a small patch of rocky ground with 5 fathoms least water. The bottom can be plainly seen on this patch in fine weather; there is a heavy swell upon it in easterly gales, and frequently a great rippling: icebergs often ground upon it.
This screen cap from Google Maps shows the outline of the ice island's position in the Terra image, along with the location (of the pointy end of the ice, at least) over the past several days:

Petermann made about 22 km in 24 hours, slowing down slightly from yesterday's break-neck speed of over 1 km/h, and — interestingly — curling back in slightly towards the coast. Who knows — the northeastern tip of the Northern Peninsula from Quirpon to St. Anthony could be in for a show as the ice slips into Newfoundland waters overnight and into tomorrow.

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