Spectacular year for icebergs in N.L.

"I've never seen anything quite like it," said Janet Kelly of Presqu'isle, Maine.

Kelly was one of a group of American and Canadian tourists who just finished an iceberg watching boat tour near St. Anthony, on the tip of Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula.

There have been more icebergs than usual in the waters around northern Newfoundland this summer.

People from as far away as Europe and Japan have travelled to St. Anthony, the largest town in the area, for a close up glimpse of the beauties. 

One of the icebergs is more of an ice island, about 600 metres long.  It used to be part of the 251-square kilometre chunk of ice which broke off the Petermann Glacier in Greenland in August 2010.

Monica Simpson of Toronto, Ontario was on the same boat tour as Kelly.

"I thought it was absolutely magical," said Simpson. "The icebergs are beautiful.  Magnificent.  The best thing I've ever seen."

However, the icebergs won't last much longer, as summer temperatures warm up the ocean, breaking the ice island and other bergs into smaller and smaller chunks.

Local companies have been harvesting the bergy bits to turn iceberg water into vodka, rum, or just pure and delicious bottled water.