A Lucky Shot Worth a Thousand Words
Canada's so-called "Iceberg Alley" runs along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador every spring, drawing photographers, tourists, and nature lovers from across the country. But even for seasoned iceberg watchers, what photographer Steve Sheppard captured last week off the coast of St. Anthony, N.L., was something truly rare.
Sheppard photographed a massive iceberg with a heart-shaped pool of meltwater sitting right on top — a geological coincidence that looks almost too perfect to be real. He called it a "lucky shot," and it's easy to see why the image has resonated with so many people.
Iceberg Alley's Annual Spectacle
Every year, icebergs calved from Greenland's glaciers drift southward along the Labrador Current, passing the coast of Newfoundland before eventually melting in the warmer waters of the North Atlantic. St. Anthony, a small town on the northern tip of the island, is one of the best places in the world to see these giants up close.
The town has built an entire tourism identity around iceberg season, which typically runs from April through June. Whale watching, hiking, and coastal boat tours are all part of the experience — but a berg this photogenic is genuinely once-in-a-season luck.
As icebergs melt, they develop hollows, arches, and pools on their surfaces. The heart shape Sheppard caught was formed by exactly this process — meltwater pooling into a depression that just happened to be perfectly symmetrical. It won't last long; within days or weeks, the berg will have shifted, cracked, or calved further, erasing the formation entirely.
Why Canadians Can't Get Enough of This
The image spread quickly on social media, and it's not hard to understand why. At a time when climate anxiety around ice loss and rising temperatures dominates headlines, a heart-shaped iceberg feels almost like nature offering a small, fleeting gesture of beauty.
It's also a reminder of how extraordinary Canada's natural landscapes are — from the northern coast of Newfoundland to the Arctic waters beyond. These icebergs are ancient, some containing ice that's over 10,000 years old, formed long before humans built cities or roads.
Planning a Trip to Iceberg Alley?
If Sheppard's photo has you dreaming of a Newfoundland adventure, the timing is right. May and June are peak iceberg season, and operators in St. Anthony offer boat tours that get remarkably close to these floating giants. The town is roughly a 10-hour drive from Gander or a short flight from St. John's.
For Canadians looking for a bucket-list domestic trip, few experiences compare to watching a 10,000-year-old chunk of Greenland ice drift silently past a rugged Newfoundland shoreline.
Heart-shaped pools optional — but clearly possible.
Source: CBC News / Photo by Steve Sheppard
