To say it has been less than a banner year for icebergs off Newfoundland would be an understatement.

With the breakup of ice off Greenland more extensive than in previous decades, one would think we would be seeing plenty of bergs, but it’s the sea ice on the Labrador Shelf and the Northeast Shelf that determines the extent of the frozen giants off Newfoundland. The sea ice traps and holds the bergs.

Brad DeYoung, an honorary research professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography at MUN, says there may still be some on the northeast coast—but if you’re up on Signal Hill trying to catch a glimpse of one, you may be disappointed.

He says there hasn’t been much sea ice the past year or two, but in some years you don’t see any icebergs off St. John’s.