Icebergs could save Great Barrier Reef

Following on from his headline-making stunt in 1978, Dick Smith will once again tow an iceberg from Antarctica to Sydney Harbour to sell pure ice cubes, up from 10¢ to $1 each three-decades after first launching the audacious "Dicksicles" business.

When Mr Smith originally pulled off the stunt, he attracted a huge amount of attention, with ferry skippers giving the giant iceberg right of way on Sydney Harbour, as dozens of boaters headed out to welcome the 'berg to Sydney, and thousands of city dwellers lined the shore in amazement.

Apparently, the original idea was conceived at the Stoned Crow bar in Crows Nest on Tuesday January 24, 1978, with adventurer Hans Tholstrup, who was appointed the Dicksicles facilitator.

"It was an amazing experience being towed slowly up the harbour in pouring rain with tens of thousands of people flocking to the foreshores and scores of boats coming out to us to get some ice," reflects Tholstrup, now 72.

The Danish-born adventurer was the first person to circumnavigate the Australian continent in a 4.9 meters (16 feet) open boat. He knows a challenge when he sees one. So what is next?

Mr Smith says there is a much bigger objective to this new Dicksicles enterprise. Ultimately, he wants to tow a whole raft of icebergs to Far North Queensland to let them melt in the Coral Sea and dissipate over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), lowering the sea temperature to save the coral from bleaching.

Last week, Professor Terry Hughes, the Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, which is headquartered at James Cook University, chartered a light plane and then a helicopter to survey the northern GBR and monitor the shocking coral bleaching. He said it was the saddest time of his life, tweeting #climatechange #notforcoal #bancoalmines #terrifying.

With the help of his ol’ mate Mr Tholstrup, Mr Smith will use the CSIRO’s 94m research vessel RV Investigator to have "an iceberg in Bondi by June 30."

it is hoped Navy and research vessels from other  scientific institutes around the world — including Boaty McBoatface which we reported on as the British public prepared for its launch — will create a flotilla of ice ships that will tow a crush of 'bergs to the Coral Sea.

From somewhere around Thursday Island, it is hoped the defrosting water will be carried over the GBR by the East Australian Current, dropping ocean temperatures by several degrees, and spawning new coral growth #globalcooling #tipoftheiceberg #bondiicebergs #coolidea.