In late February 2019 a Texas family's holiday in Iceland produced one of the internet's favourite near-misses. A grandmother climbed onto a block of glacier ice at the water's edge to pose for a photo, a wave lifted the ice, and within moments she was drifting away from the black-sand shore. A visitor with professional water-rescue training waded out and brought her back, and she was unhurt.
Her granddaughter, Catherine Streng, a 24-year-old English teacher living in South Korea, heard about it in real time through a string of messages and photos from her father. She posted them on Twitter on 25 February 2019 with a deadpan line about her grandmother nearly getting lost at sea, and the thread went viral within hours.
The pictures are funny because everyone survived. They are also a clear lesson in how quickly the shoreline near Jökulsárlón, Iceland's famous glacier lagoon, can change. Below, each photo and screenshot is explained in order, followed by why the ice moved and how to enjoy the area without becoming the next viral story.
What happened, step by step
According to BuzzFeed News, which spoke to Streng at the time, the family was in Iceland because her grandmother wanted to see the country's scenery for herself. On the beach she watched several other tourists sit on the ice for pictures and asked whether she could do the same. A retreating wave had left one chunk, shaped a little like a lounge chair, sitting on the sand. She climbed on. The next wave rocked the block, and the one after that carried it, with her on top, out into the surf.
Randy Lacount, a licensed boat captain from Florida who had water-rescue training, saw it happen. He waded into the rough, freezing water, helped her off the ice and supported her back to shore.
This selfie, shared alongside the story, appears to show Catherine Streng with her father, who sent her the play-by-play from Iceland. Streng told BuzzFeed News she laughed out loud at work while reading his texts, and that this kind of adventure was typical of her family.
The tweet that started it all, posted from Streng's account @Xiushook at 5:10 p.m. on 25 February 2019. It collected well over a hundred thousand likes, and tens of thousands of people joined the conversation underneath.
The first message in the chat with "Dad": the grandmother perched on a tall, clear block of ice, smiling, with the caption "Iceberg queen." Notice the surf already washing around the base of the block; the beach behind her is the dark volcanic sand typical of this stretch of Iceland's south coast.
A minute later the joke turned. The same block is now sitting in the waves, separated from the sand by a band of churning water and loose ice. Her father's caption played on her new royal title, saying she had lost her kingdom when she drifted out.
The follow-up message made clear this was not a staged photo: a rescuer had to bring her back. The picture shows how far a small floe can travel in a single surge, and how the floating chunks around it can knock into anyone wading out.
Streng's father posing among stranded ice blocks on the beach, safely on the sand. Pieces like these break off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, float down the lagoon and are washed up by the sea, which is why the area is nicknamed Diamond Beach.
Why a block of ice on the beach can suddenly float
Jökulsárlón is a deep glacial lagoon at the foot of Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap. Wikipedia's summary of the lagoon notes it has an average depth of roughly 150 metres and is Iceland's deepest lake. Large blocks calve from the glacier front, gather near the lagoon's short, shallow outlet, and once they melt small enough, tides and wind push them through the channel to the sea. The Atlantic then throws many of them back onto the black sand.
That cycle is what makes the beach beautiful and also what makes it unstable. A block resting on the sand may only be grounded until the next bigger wave arrives. Ice is lighter than seawater, so a surge of only a few tens of centimetres can lift a chunk that looked firmly planted. Once afloat, it can roll as it melts unevenly, and backwash can drag it out quickly.
The water itself is the bigger danger. Sea temperatures here stay close to freezing for much of the year. A widely taught rule of thumb for cold-water immersion is that the first minute brings a gasping, hyperventilating shock, after which a person may have only around ten minutes of useful movement before their hands and arms stop working. In heavy surf full of floating ice, that window is even shorter. This is why the grandmother's rescue was quick work by someone who knew what he was doing, not a casual paddle.
What the warning signs actually say
The safety board at the glacial lagoon, in English and Icelandic. Its symbols warn visitors not to step onto icebergs, not to swim in the freezing water, that the ice is unsafe for walking, that you only survive a few minutes in the water, that currents are dangerous and that rolling icebergs form waves. It also gives Iceland's emergency number, 112, and states that visitors are there at their own risk.
Several people replying to Streng pointed out exactly this: the warnings exist because people keep doing it. Wikipedia's article on the lagoon lists a 2019 case of a tourist stranded on an iceberg at Diamond Beach among its safety notes. Watching other visitors pose safely tells you nothing about the next wave.
How Twitter and Facebook reacted
Because she came home safe, the replies were mostly affectionate teasing. Here is a selection of the responses, with what each one was getting at.
Twitter user @DenyseBastet noticed the detail many people laughed at: Streng's father kept taking pictures while the drama unfolded. In fairness, his photos are why the story is so well documented.
"Elsa in 60 years" was one of many Frozen jokes. The comparison to Disney's ice queen came easily, given that her family had already crowned her "Iceberg queen".
A reply that summed up the mood for many: guilty laughter mixed with genuine relief that she was safe. Posted on 25 February, the same evening as the original tweet.
Not everyone found it funny. User @tomasGeir asked why people still climb on the ice when warning signs tell them not to, a fair point given the board pictured above.
Streng replied that the family had been with a tour guide, so she assumed they had been told it was fine. This detail comes only from her tweet; BuzzFeed's report does not mention a guide, and it shows how easily visitors can take cues from others rather than from the signs.
A reply praising her father's running commentary, comparing his messages to the medieval epic The Song of Roland. The reply also notes the obvious relief: she never fell into the cold water.
Some admired the nerve. This reply cheered the grandmother on for taking a risk to get a great picture, the very attitude the safety signs are trying to counter.
"Granny is going to Atlantis" imagined the floe as a one-way trip to the legendary sunken city, one of the most liked jokes in the thread.
Another Frozen reference, this time pitching the episode as a third film in the series. Frozen 2 was still months from release at the time.
A short, sympathetic reply laughing along with the family. Many responses followed this pattern once readers knew the ending was happy.
"She's an ocean queen" picked up the royal theme from her father's captions, posted a few days after the original tweet as the story spread.
When the story moved to Facebook, the jokes followed. This comment, with a mild swear word pixelated, imagined a relative choosing photos over rescue, a playful dig at all the picture-taking.
A Facebook comment joking that the grandmother was "doing it for the Gram", meaning Instagram. BuzzFeed reported that she had indeed wanted a picture for Instagram.
The same comment appears twice in the collected screenshots. The phrase became a running theme because it neatly captured how far people will go for a social media photo.
"Titanic 2: Iceberg's Revenge on Rose" turned the story into a film sequel, a nod to the 1997 film in which an older Rose recalls the sinking.
A commenter who was about to fly to Iceland promised to watch out for a sequel. If you are in the same position, the safety notes below are worth more than the photo.
How to enjoy Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón safely
- Admire the ice from the sand. Photograph blocks from beside them or from behind, never from on top. Stranded ice can be lifted by the next surge.
- Keep your face to the sea. Waves on Iceland's south coast arrive in irregular sets, and a large one can run much further up the beach than the ones before it.
- Stay well back from the waterline with children. Rolling ice and backwash can knock people over.
- Do not follow the crowd. Other tourists posing on ice is not evidence that it is safe.
- Know the number. Iceland's emergency number is 112. If someone is carried out, call it and do not swim after them unless you are trained and equipped.
The ending here was lucky: a trained rescuer happened to be nearby. Enjoy the story, and the striking scenery behind it, and leave the iceberg selfies to the people in the memes.
Sources: Photos and screenshots shared by Catherine Streng (Twitter @Xiushook) and replies on Twitter and Facebook; BuzzFeed News: interview with Catherine Streng; Wikipedia: Jökulsárlón.
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