Iceberg Shortage Hurts Newfoundland Tourist Industry

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ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - "There is a dearth of icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland this summer and Mother Nature is to blame. The azure monoliths are a major tourist draw for the province, where the ocean currents carry them from the glaciers of western Greenland into "Iceberg Alley" along the eastern coast of Newfoundland.

The easternmost province is the most accessible point in North America to view icebergs, some the size of hockey arenas, towering several stories above the ocean surface. They can pass a stone's throw from shore, even become grounded in the thousands of shallow bays from St. Anthony to St. John's. But prime iceberg season is coming to a close and there's been less than a handful this year, said Gus Young, operator of Twillingate Adventure Tours.

"It's one of our worst seasons so far," Young said from Twillingate, 400 kilometres northeast of St. John's. "We had one earlier in the season but that's long gone."

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There weren't many in Canadian waters to start with this year, and a winter storm pushed most floes into the north Labrador coast, he said. As many as 190 are stranded along Labrador, grounded on rocky shoals beyond sightseeing range. Others are riding the wrong ocean current out into the North Atlantic, far from tourist eyes."

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http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050626/CPA/53984029