Cape Spear licked by a spit of Arctic ice

I went to Fort Amherst, at the mouth of the harbour of St John's, this afternoon to look at the long spit of northern ice coming south. It was a good five km offshore where I was, but it was right into shore at Cape Spear.

That is what this picture shows, Cape Spear, about six km from where I was, with the ice pushing up against the landwash.

Many bays are filled now with these broken pans of ice, each up to a couple of metres thick, but with almost no icebergs among them yet. Today, I saw a few bergy bits, pieces sticking up perhaps four metres or so, but they might have been just pans turned on their edges by the pressure of the ice behind them. Probably not proper bergy bits.

Every day we are hearing reports of two very dangerous things.

One is the scattered polar bear coming ashore from these passing pans, and looking for a meal.

The other is crowds of people foolishly jumping up on the bobbing ice coming ashore, while the sea heaves underneath them.

I saw neither this afternoon.