The world’s largest iceberg, A23a, dubbed the “iceberg that refuses to die”, is on the move after being stuck for 30 years and scientists are clueless about its destination.

This gigantic iceberg first detached from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica’s southern Weddell Sea back in 1986. However, it quickly got trapped in the sea sediment, anchored by a 350-meter-deep ice keel where it stayed for over three decades.

It wasn’t until 2020 that it began to melt enough to re-float and continue its journey. The current debate among scientists is where A23a will end up, as it continues to surprise them with its resilience. Measuring the true size of iceberg A23a is a challenge.

Satellite measurements have shown that the frozen mᴀss has an average thickness of just over 900 feet and weighs just under a trillion tonnes, making it twice the size of Greater London, according to the BBC. After freeing itself from the Weddell Sea, the iceberg moved slowly at first before currents and winds swept it north towards warmer air and waters.

A23a is now following a path known as “Iceberg Alley” – a route that exports much of Antarctica’s floating ice and points towards the British overseas territory of South Georgia, the Daily Star reported.

The BBC reports that this gigantic iceberg is on a “path of destruction”, destined to disintegrate and dissolve. The ongoing decay is clearly visible in satellite images and close-up pH๏τos taken by brave ships that dare to approach.

Every day, huge chunks break off and fall into the sea – some as large as football fields, others similar in size to trucks. In December 2023, the mᴀssive berg had veered towards the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, meeting a vortex of fast-moving water currents that rotate clockwise around the icy continent.

At this point, its future path baffled scientists, who were puzzled by the dominant westerly winds sweeping the region. But by April this year, there was a twist; the icy behemoth was drifting along the 60th Parallel near the South Orkney Islands, about 430 miles northeast of the end of the Antarctic Peninsula.

There was high anticipation that it would move into warmer waters, break apart, and disappear. However, as August unfolded, an unexpected reality emerged: A23a had been trapped in a watery dance, spinning in place for months, defying expectations to be quickly carried away by Earth’s most powerful ocean current.

This stationary dance led scientists to speculate that it had been caught atop a giant eddy of spinning water, the Taylor Column, potentially trapping it in a frozen swirl for a long stay.

“Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one,” observed polar expert Prof Mark Brandon. “A23a is the iceberg that just refuses to die,” stated the Open University scholar during an exchange with BBC News.

The scientific community awaits with bated breath to see what unfolds next.