ST..JOHNS (CBC) - A chilly spring is being credited for a massive parade of icebergs off Newfoundland, making for what experts say will be a stunning season for onlookers.

"This is going to be a record-setting year for icebergs," Lt. William Woityra of the International Ice Patrol told CBC News.

"We've certainly seen more icebergs already this year than we've seen in the past four years combined."

The International Ice Patrol keeps track of ice-infested waters, and has been doing so since the Titanic disaster of 1912, when the doomed luxury liner sank in the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg.

So far this year, the patrol has counted 890 bergs.

Icebergs glide by Newfoundland each spring, melting gradually as they head further south.

This year, however, has been a bonanza for iceberg spotters, with many communities offered one choice view after another of various shapes and sizes.

"Beautiful, breathtaking, spectacular," said Brenda Ellis, a tourist from Ontario, said while gazing at bergs near the Avalon Peninsula community of Cappahayden. "Just gorgeous."

"Some of them look like ships, and some of them look like apartment buildings to me," her husband, Bob Ellis, said.

"You can make up your own mind, but they all are very fascinating. It's amazing to see them for the first time."

Woitrya said weather conditions this year contributed to the spectacle.

"[It was] the colder weather, particularly in the months of March and April," he said. "So far this year, the ice conditions were perfect for a heavy iceberg season."

The icebergs have made for a spectacle for tourists and residents alike, but Woityra said there is a significant reason why the Ice Patrol exists.

"It's a very serious impediment to transatlantic shipping, since the shipping lanes normally run very close to the Avalon Peninsula," he said.

"This is forcing those ships to move further south and out of their way than they would normally have to."

LIKE IT?  LET OTHERS KNOW