Iceberg shortage spells trouble for Newfoundland town

Mary Vallis

The island town of Twillingate, Nfld., is home to less than 3,000 people, but its population swells to 30,000 each summer as tourists arrive to see majestic icebergs jutting out of the frigid North Atlantic, having drifted all the way from Greenland.

They are such a boon to the town that it calls itself The Iceberg Capital of the World. But this year, Twillingate has a problem: No icebergs. The tourists are mad. There is more than just tourism at stake, the icebergs are also harvested for vodka, gin and rum, as well as bottled water sold in the Middle East.

“The iceberg has his own track, and maybe its own mind as well,” said Captain Cecil Stockley, a tour operator who calls himself Iceberg Man. “(Tourists) say to me, ‘I planned my whole vacation around it.’ It certainly is frustrating.”

An iceberg shortage is plaguing Newfoundland’s ‘iceberg alley,’ a stretch of ocean off Newfoundland’s north coast. Back in 1912, more than 1,000 icebergs reportedly floated in the North Atlantic shipping lane, which includes the alley. In recent years, however, the locals in Twillingate consider it a good year if 12 or 15 icebergs float past.

It all depends on the ocean currents, wind patterns and how many icebergs set sail from Greenland in the first place, Capt. Stockley said.

“When they come in June and early July and they don’t see icebergs, they’re pretty disappointed,” President of the Twillingate Islands Tourism Association Fred Bridger said. “But then they see what else we have to offer.” In the absence of icebergs, tourists are pointed toward Twillingate’s rugged coastline, hiking trails and dinner theatre. Tourists are also enthralled with sightings of humpback and minke whales. Bridger, who owns a bed and breakfast, serves them drinks kept cold with iceberg chunks. He has enough in the freezer to keep him going.

Capt. Stockley disagrees with the town’s decision to market itself as the world’s iceberg capital. Tourists need to understand that they will not necessarily see icebergs during their stay, he stressed. If they want a guarantee, they should go to the source, he added.

This year, Captain Ed Kean had to take his barge all the way to southern Labrador to harvest icebergs for business clients, which increases the cost of production.

“This is the first year we had to go (to Labrador) to get any icebergs at all,” Capt. Kean yesterday said from his boat off Cape Bonavista. “No two years are the same.” And some businesses are not looking for much. “One iceberg can last us a whole year,” said Tony Kenny, president of Berg water. “One iceberg could probably solve a drought, they’re huge.”

Newfoundlanders are not discouraged by the dry spell, it has happened in the past, as recently as 2006. They always come back. Everyone has their eyes on a giant chunk of ice that broke off Greenland’s frozen western coastline a few weeks ago.

It was seven square kilometres in size (approximately 1,700 acres). It can take years for icebergs to float on ocean currents the full 4,500 kilometres between Newfoundland and Greenland.

“There will be icebergs,” Capt. Stockley said assuredly. “But not this year.”

The National Post