Icebergs near NZ after drifting from Atlantic

In this undated photo released by the New Zealand Defense Force, an iceberg is observed from a New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion maritime surveillance airplane on routine fisheries patrol in the southern ocean. A maritime warning has been issued after approximately 100 icebergs were discovered near Auckland Islands, 260 kilometers (160 miles) south of the South Island of New Zealand Friday, Nov. 3, 2006. The largest iceberg about 2 kilometers by 1.5 kilometers (1.2 by 0.9 miles) and more than 130 meters (425 feet) high were found floating in a major ocean shipping lane. (AP Photo/New Zealand Defense Force,HO)

Scores of icebergs have floated to within about 300 km (186 miles) of New Zealand, with the largest measuring about 1.8 km (1.1 miles) in length and standing some 120 meters (360 feet) above water.

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research oceanographer Mike Williams said on Wednesday the icebergs were likely part of a larger piece of ice which broke off the Ronne Ice Shelf, located southeast of the Falkland Islands, six years ago.

The original iceberg, named A-43, was 167 km (104 miles) long 32 km (20 miles) wide.

Williams said about 100 icebergs, first detected by New Zealand's air force on Friday, had drifted eastward, south of Africa and Australia, in the dominant Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

"It's a natural but a rare phenomenon. It requires a lot of rare occurrences to happen simultaneously," he said.