Icebergs of Fishing Point Back >>

Be sure to visit the Fishing Point Emporium for an excellent Interpertation of everything you want to know about Icebergs.

The waters off Fishing Point are the summer home to majestic, thousand year old icebergs on the Atlantic Ocean, which are among the most beautiful and spectacular sights of Newfoundland . The visitor is bound to see some on the northeast coast of the province, if visiting from May to July.

The origins of North Atlantic icebergs are the tidewater glaciers of West Greenland where up to 30,000 – 40,000 icebergs are calved annually. These glaciers account for approximately 85% of the icebergs that reach Newfoundland with the remainder coming from the glaciers on the West Greenland Glaciers.

As snow falls on the Greenland ice cap over the course of several months it changes into granular snow. After several decades it is compressed into dense ice by the weight of the overlying snow that has accumulated above it. Therefore all icebergs are composed of fresh water. Driven by the immense weight of the ice cap above, the ice begins to flow toward the sea. At the glacier's edge slabs of ice are weakened and broke by tidal actions.

Carried north around Baffin Bay they do not appear in Newfoundland waters until their second year at sea. Carried south in the Labrador Current and carried along the east coast of Newfoundland where they can be admired.

Fishing Point has the longest season for icebergs
and the most icebergs, in Newfoundland.

For those who wish to look beyond the beauty of icebergs there are many things to look for which can make iceberg watching more interesting. Besides estimating the iceberg's size and shape there are many features that may be noted. Coloured streaks, caves and tunnels, old and new waterline notches, even objects such as boulders or birds are seen on icebergs. Even more spectacular is the occasion of an iceberg calving and rolling which can often be heard from a great distance. An observer's checklist can be provided at the Interpretation Centre of the Fishing Point Emporium.