--- title: "Sailor Snaps Photo of Black Iceberg With Dark Veins" description: "There's a huge black iceberg floating off the frigid coast of Northeastern Canada — and a photo of the strange structure has gone viral." date: "2025-06-15" modified: "2025-06-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/black-iceberg-photo" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "canada" - "icebergs" - "sailors" - "the digest" --- # Sailor Snaps Photo of Black Iceberg With Dark Veins ![There's a huge black iceberg floating off the frigid coast of Northeastern Canada — and a photo of the strange structure has gone viral.]() *\Image: Hallur Antoniussen\* ## Black Ice There's a huge black iceberg floating off the frigid coast of Northeastern Canada — and a photo of the strange structure is making waves online. As fisherman Hallur Antoniussen explained in an [interview with the *Canadian Broadcasting Corporation*](), the bizarre berg he photographed when on an expedition 100 miles off the coast of Newfoundland appeared to be about three times larger than the others surrounding it. Shot from about 3.75 miles away with a smartphone back in May, the iceberg was unlike any Antoniussen had ever seen in his 50-year career. "I have seen icebergs that are rolled... \[on the\] beach with some rocks in it," the fisherman, who hails from the self-governing Faroe Islands, told the *CBC*. "This one here is completely different. It's not only that he is all black. He is almost... in a diamond shape." "It's something you don't see very often," Antoniussen said. "I just ran to my room and took my phone and snapped this picture." ## Tip Top Shape Along with its odd shape, the berg was rock-like in appearance and had darker veins that were visible even from miles away. Thoroughly perturbed, the sailor decided he had to show his crewmates the mysterious berg, and subsequently [posted it on Facebook](), where it went viral as armchair geologists tried to determine how it got its dark color. "It's an Oil Berg," one commentator insisted. "\[It's\] from soil and sand being trapped into the ice as it had formed and compressed," another claimed. "Could be from other items." According to Lev Tarasov, a physicist and glacier expert from Newfoundland's Memorial University, ash from an ancient, icebound volcano could be the culprit — but it's hard to say for sure, because scientists [don't yet know]() how many such volcanoes exist. Tarasov told the *CBC* that he had seen smaller black icebergs before in Greenland, where [volcanic ash has been found]() in the frozen territory's ice core. Ice formations in that region have long been observed [drifting toward its coasts]() — and when they hit it, those formations break off to form bergs. Because of its apparent smoothness, the scientist suggested that the iceberg could be anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 years old. "Over time, as it travels... it's melting away," Tarasov said. "So I think a lot of that ice is melted away." Using the old adage, the glacier expert note that "we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg on top." "Maybe the part that's clean is underneath, right?" he pondered. "Again, 90 per cent of the ice is underneath the water." **More on icebergs:** [*World's Largest Iceberg Escapes Antarctic, Crashes Into Remote Island*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()