On the eastern coast of Newfoundland, Canada, is "Iceberg Alley," one of the best areas to spot icebergs. (The Titanic was destroyed by ice that flowed South from the area in 1912.) The most popular time to visit this province is during peak iceberg season, late May through June, though the season lasts longer farther North.
Looking for icebergs? This map will help.
Lauren Katz is a senior project manager at Vox, focusing on newsroom-wide editorial initiatives as well as podcast engagement strategy.
Spotting a ‘berg
In order to help people find where the icebergs are hanging out, the Newfoundland and Labrador tourist website hosts an incredible Iceberg Map. The map urges iceberg-hunting tourists to double check the iceberg location with a local source since the icebergs might shift location or melt.
Where's Waldo, iceberg edition. IcebergFinder.com
Each little iceberg icon contains all the information one could possibly need to spot this hunk of ice in real life: location, the date and time it was last detected, the shape and the size. This information is tracked by tourism volunteers or “ambassadors,” as well as satellite technology from the Canadian Space Agency.
Icebergfinder.com
No two icebergs are alike
Think once you’ve seen one iceberg you’ve seen them all? Wrong. Icebergs come in all sizes, and they’re categorized into five shapes: tabular, blocky, wedged, dome, pinnacle and dry dock. This chart from Icebergfinder.com explains the breakdown:
Icebergfinder.com
We know how to find icebergs and how to categorize them, but it's still hard to grasp just how huge these blocks of ice can be if you haven't seen one in person. For an up close look, watch this video of a drone flying through an iceberg in Newfoundland:
In Canada, icebergs are more than just ice
Water from icebergs is the key ingredient in iceberg beer from the Quidi Vidi Brewery outside of St. John's, Newfoundland. The water, which the company says is over 25,000 years old, gives the beer a light taste, according to locals in this NPR story.
“It’s the purest water on the earth,” former co-director of the company David Rees said in this tourism video from 2008. “It has no organics and no mineral content.”
Quidi Vidi Harbor/Lauren Katz
The first year the company put their iceberg beer on the market, an iceberg somehow found it’s way inside the tiny Quidi Vidi harbor. Rees recalls having pictures of the iceberg sitting within 500 feet of the brewery.
“It was an incredible thing to have happen,” he said.
Could iceberg water be the future of beer? It might only be a matter of time until the idea melts the hearts of brewmasters everywhere.
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