A rare black iceberg was captured on camera by fisherman Hallur Antoniussen in the Labrador Sea. While aboard the fishing trawler Saputi in mid-May, Antoniussen, originally from the Faroe Islands, was hoping to catch some fish when he spotted an enormous, completely black iceberg about six kilometers from his boat. The iceberg was not only entirely black but also almost diamond-shaped.
Antoniussen noticed the unusual iceberg after climbing up to the ship's crane when they were over 100 kilometers from the coast, in Hopedale Channel between Nain and Hopedale. Astonished by its uniqueness, he made sure to steer well clear of it but had the presence of mind to capture an image. He later shared the photograph on social media, where it quickly went viral, gathering hundreds of comments and sparking widespread interest.
"I've never seen anything like it," Antoniussen reportedly said. The black iceberg stood out distinctly from more common variants, looking like a rock with many very dark gray and black streaks. He immediately ruled out the possibility that it was a shadow.
Glaciologist Dr. Lev Tarasov from Memorial University in Canada provided potential explanations for the iceberg's unusual color. According to Tarasov, as glaciers move toward the sea, they lift and incorporate debris from the surrounding land, grinding along the ground and stirring up materials that become mixed in with the ice. This process can result in icebergs that appear black or dark gray due to soil, stones, or other dark-colored materials.
"It would take a long time for these debris to mix uniformly, as appears in Antoniussen's iceberg, suggesting that the ice block is quite ancient, with an age between 1,000 and 100,000 years," Tarasov explained. He noted that the iceberg might have broken off from a larger glacier and fallen into the sea. Tarasov also mentioned that he observed smaller ice blocks with similar characteristics in Greenland, which exhibited similar phenomena and contained black material.
Icebergs are not always just frozen water; they can incorporate materials during their formation, leading to different colors, including dark tones. White icebergs owe their appearance to millions of tiny air bubbles trapped inside, which scatter wavelengths of light. Over time, as the ice compresses, the air bubbles decrease, and the ice becomes transparent like glass. In such cases, red light is absorbed while blue light is scattered more, causing the iceberg to take on a bluish color.
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In the case of Antoniussen's iceberg, the dark coloration could also be the result of soot from a volcanic outburst or debris from a meteorite strike, as Tarasov suggests. Some wondered if the iceberg contained volcanic ash from an ancient eruption. However, Tarasov emphasized that it is difficult to determine exactly how the iceberg formed. "We may never know for sure unless another similar iceberg shows up for study," he said.
Over time, as it travels around Baffin Bay and along the coast of Labrador, the black iceberg melts. Tarasov pointed out that 90 percent of an iceberg is underwater, meaning that much of the ice likely melted away. "So I think a lot of that ice is melted away. Maybe the part that's clean is underneath?" he speculated.
"Icebergs containing iron oxides appear green due to a yellow hue when mixed with blue ice. Others can appear black or dark gray, often due to soil, stones, or other dark-colored materials mixed into the ice, sometimes as they roll over dark surfaces."
"The sighting of the rare black iceberg serves as a reminder of the many unknowns about the ocean and the natural wonders it holds. In the meantime, we can only hope to witness another such extraordinary spectacle of nature," Antoniussen said, according to reports.