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Grounding near the shallow continental shelf close to South Georgia could block off routes between feeding and breeding areas for many penguin and seal colonies.
在靠近南乔治亚岛的浅大陆架附近搁浅，可能会阻断许多企鹅和海豹群体往返觅食区和繁殖区的路线。
This disruption "forces the adults to swim further, burn more energy and, basically, bring back less," says Meijers, resulting in higher mortality and potentially worsening the impact of bird flu on both seals and penguins
迈耶斯说，这种干扰“迫使成年动物游得更远，消耗更多能量，基本上带回的食物也更少”，这将导致更高的死亡率，并可能加剧禽流感对海豹和企鹅的影响。
Timing is important. "In October, the penguins decide where they're going to nest," says Maria Vernet, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.
时机很重要。加州大学圣地亚哥分校斯克里普斯海洋研究所的海洋生态学家玛丽亚·韦尔内说：“10月，企鹅会决定在哪里筑巢。”
An enormous, steep iceberg that's "more like an apartment building," is a bigger threat when the eggs and chicks are in the nest and utterly dependent on their parents.
当蛋和雏鸟还在巢中，完全依赖父母时，这座“更像公寓楼”的巨大陡峭冰山，会构成更大的威胁。
"But by February, all those chicks should be out of their nest" and can forage for themselves, she says.
但她说：“到2月，所有雏鸟都应该离巢了”，可以自己觅食。
There are other potential impacts.
此外还有其他潜在影响。
In 2000, the B15 iceberg calved off the Ross Ice Shelf and acted "like a shield," says Vernet, reducing the amount of light that could penetrate the ocean and reduced the growth of phytoplankton -- which forms the base of the food web.
韦尔内说，2000年，B15冰山从罗斯冰架脱离，它“像一个屏障”，减少了能够穿透海洋的光线量，抑制了浮游植物的生长，而浮游植物是食物网的基础。
On the flip side, as the iceberg melts, it deposits iron that it picked up from grinding along the seabed, and stirs up deep waters, bringing rich nutrients to the surface.
另一方面，随着冰山融化，它会释放从海底摩擦中获得的铁，并搅动深层海水，将丰富的营养物质带到海面。
This encourages plankton blooms, "which attract krill, which then support pretty much everything in the Southern Ocean," says Meijers.
迈耶斯说，这会促进浮游生物大量繁殖，“吸引磷虾，进而为南大洋的几乎所有生物提供食物”。
"Drifting icebergs generate a little ecosystem with them," says Vernet.
韦尔内说：“漂移的冰山会形成一个小型生态系统。”
If it brings the krill close to the rookeries, the penguins would have a feast.
如果它把磷虾带到靠近繁殖地的地方，企鹅就有大餐可吃了。
"The ocean current is a series of complex, interconnected eddies," says Siegert.
西格特说：“洋流是一系列复杂且相互关联的漩涡。
"The average flow is in a certain direction, but it's really complicated," making it nearly impossible to predict where icebergs will drift.
平均流向是某个方向，但实际情况非常复杂。”这使得几乎无法预测冰山会漂向何处。
Several icebergs have followed a similar path: in 2004, A38 grounded on South Georgia's continental shelf with catastrophic wildlife impacts, A68 melted and missed South Georgia in 2020–2021, and, in 2023, A76 broke into smaller pieces in the waters around the island.
有几座冰山走过类似的路线：2004年，A38在南乔治亚岛的大陆架搁浅，对野生动物造成了灾难性影响；2020-2021年，A68融化并错过了南乔治亚岛；2023年，A76在该岛周围水域分裂成较小的碎片。
If A23a breaks up, it could be dangerous for ships navigating the treacherous Southern Ocean.
如果A23a解体，对于在险恶的南大洋航行的船只来说可能很危险。
"It's the stormiest, most unpleasant ocean in the world," says Siegert.
西格特说：“这是世界上风暴最频繁、最恶劣的海洋。”
It's easy to track a slab of ice twice the size of London, but following a series of smaller icebergs is much harder. Plus, these can suddenly overturn.
追踪一块两倍于伦敦大小的冰块很容易，但追踪一系列较小的冰山要困难得多。而且，这些小冰山可能会突然翻转。
