Every summer, seasoned fisherman Ed Kean, 53, sets sail towards the North Atlantic Ocean to collect icebergs that have broken off from the Greenland glaciers and drifted southward.
Kean harvests ice to supply local producers of wine, beverages, and bottled water. These companies utilize the water retained in glaciers for thousands of years in their products and promote it as the purest water on Earth. They report that the demand for pure water is increasing, but the task of collecting these valuable icebergs is becoming more challenging.
The ice harvesting process requires tools such as a gigantic net, a rifle, and a chainsaw. Currently, Ed Kean not only struggles with navigating the aimless drifting icebergs—whose selling price is rising alongside fuel costs—but also contends with several tourism companies that accuse him of depleting the majestic icebergs that their clients wish to admire. However, the demand for ice water is booming in Canada.
Ed Kean and colleagues collecting icebergs at sea
Every spring, before heading out to sea, Ed Kean spends time plotting a route for his ship, the Green Waters, in preparation for the annual iceberg hunting season. Each May, Kean travels over 1,500 kilometers from the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador, Eastern Canada, heading north to search for the most valuable drifting icebergs for the hunting season. He regularly stays in contact with friends and meets locals in coastal villages to gather information about the iceberg locations.
Kean also frequently calls his wife, Marina, who monitors iceberg tracking websites such as icebergfinder.com. After locating a suitable iceberg, Kean evaluates its trajectory and mobilizes equipment and personnel to head out for collection. Ed Kean’s iceberg harvesting profession also requires permits from local authorities.
Hugh McDermott, the CEO of Quidi Vidi Brewing Co. in St. John’s, complains that the icebergs supplied to his company are still insufficient to produce Iceberg Beer for sale locally throughout the summer. David Myers, the owner of the private Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corp. in Toronto, states that the business deriving from water trapped in icebergs is exceedingly prosperous.
Other clients of Ed Kean include Auk Island Winery and Berg Water, also located in Newfoundland. Ed Kean is the sole supplier of natural ice to these beverage companies. They have tested samples of water from the icebergs and confirm its exceptional purity due to being trapped in ice for many years, unaffected by environmental factors, air, and seawater.
Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder, asserts that although he hasn’t conducted comparative tests between iceberg water and tap water, he believes that the ice harvested from Greenland’s ice sheets is “absolutely pure.” Serreze frequently drinks beverages made with pure iceberg water and describes them as “excellent.”
Iceberg Vodka production facility of the private Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corp. in Toronto.
Harvesting icebergs brings Ed Kean hundreds of thousands of dollars each time there is a “good season.” At sea, Kean uses a shovel to break the ice, then employs a winch to transfer the ice blocks onto the boat for transport back to the bay. Upon arrival, Kean melts the ice and stores the water before delivering it to customers. In recent years, as smaller icebergs have become scarce, Kean has resorted to shooting large icebergs to break them into smaller pieces. He also uses an axe or chainsaw to chop the icebergs.
Tourism companies criticize Ed Kean for damaging the natural beauty of the icebergs that attract many visitors each summer. Cecil Stockley, director of Iceberg Man Tours in Twillingate, Newfoundland, urges Ed Kean to operate away from coastal villages and tourist paths so that visitors do not witness him brutally chopping the icebergs. Meanwhile, Ed Kean and his clients assert that only a tiny fraction of the enormous icebergs is harvested, and the work is carried out well away from heavily trafficked tourist areas.
Ed Kean became interested in icebergs in the 1990s when a local nonprofit organization contacted him for help with an ice-related project. At that time, Kean was an ordinary fisherman. In 1997, Iceberg Vodka approached Kean to collect drifting ice from the sea for their use.
Working alongside Ed Kean in harvesting icebergs is Justin Crummy, a former amateur wrestling athlete. Ed Kean constantly scans the sea with binoculars to search for icebergs, despite the thick fog obscuring his view. Sometimes, he spots icebergs located several hundred kilometers offshore, but by the time he reaches them, they have melted away.
