Flippin' the Berg.

Ready for takeoff.

Quirpon Island, NL – The Zodiac bounces aggressively over the waves as we round the island's steep, rock-lined coast. It's nice to be on the water after a few days in the car.

It helps that the sky is endlessly blue. 

Our pilot, Ed, asks if we'd like to stay aboard for a tour once we drop the other passengers off for our stay at the Quirpon Lighthouse Inn. We're at the mouth of Newfoundland's iceberg alley and there's no guarantee of weather.

Each year, approximately 400-800 icebergs of various sizes and shapes make the trek down here from Greenland, prior to melting farther down the coast. For us, this will be a unique opportunity.

Pulling back out into open water, it's not long before there's a collective gasp.

Cubes in the drink.

Rising above us is a massive tabular iceberg nicknamed "The Runway," which was more than 500 metres long as recently as two weeks ago. It has split down the middle and melted a bit since, but the awe is real.

Who'd have thought a 10,000-year-old chunk of ice could generate such excitement?

A splash of turquoise beneath the bluish-white berg hints at the massive structure still underwater. Ice chunks that have broken off bob in our wake. 

In all, we see six different icebergs of varying sizes.

As we turn back to the shore, we take one last look at The Runway and notice something is off. Half of it has flipped upside down.

Looking at the time stamps on our cameras, there was a one-minute period between photos where nobody noticed it happen. No noise; no big splash. Just a new view.

Tomorrow, it will be gone altogether, having floated off to sea.