Scientists are monitoring an iceberg six times the size of Manhattan that broke off from an Antarctic glacier.
The iceberg, known as B31, was first detected in 2011 and separated from Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier in November.
Researchers recently confirmed it covers 255 square miles, and is 500 meters thick, according to The Telegraph.
The iceberg is not currently a threat, but it is large enough that it needs to continually be monitored.
"It's one that's large enough that it warrants monitoring," said NASA glaciologist Kelly Brunt, according to The Telegraph. "There is not a lot of shipping traffic down there. We're not particularly concerned about shipping lanes. We know where all the big ones are."
Brunt added that most researchers are interested in it because it formed in an "unexpected location."
Scientists said the iceberg floated across Pine Island Bay, and that there is a good chance it will get swept up soon in the currents of the Southern Ocean.
"It's like a large sheet cake floating through the Southern Ocean," said Brunt.
During the Antarctic spring and summer, NASA used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in order to capture a series of images of B31.
Researchers will continue to track the iceberg as it continues to move across the ocean.
"We are doing some research on local ocean currents to try to explain the motion properly. It has been surprising how there have been periods of almost no motion, interspersed with rapid flow," said Grant Bigg of the University of Sheffield, who has been tracking the ice island with synthetic aperture radar, in a press release. "There were a couple of occasions early on when there might have been partial grounding or collisions with the seafloor, as B31 bounced from one side of the Bay to the other."
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