Climbing the stacked-up, Kendal mint cake-like slabs of ice (see gallery above) deposited on the shores of the Triigi on Saaremaa's north coast is hazardous, and consequently is barred.

Tanel Mänd, supervisor of the Port of Triigi, told AK that the ice entered the harbor with great force and "with a 'bang.' I wasn't there to see it myself, but it came quite quickly, and with some force," he said.

The movement of ice also disrupted the ferry which sails between Triigi and Hiiumaa, to the north.

Mänd said; "Last night's voyage was canceled, though this morning it made its way through. It was 40 minutes late, but it made it."

There are some even higher pack ice mountains further down the peninsular, AK reported.

"The emotions are intense; I've never seen anything like this before," one bystander, Gerli, told AK.

Saaremaa and neighboring Hiiumaa, as by far the two largest of Estonia's offshore islands, maintain a long-standing and friendly rivalry, and the phenomenon of the ice mountains are no exception to this; the pack ice had drifted across from the direction of Hiiumaa, and while conditions are currently calm, it is possible that the ice returns back and forth across the Soela Strait, which separates the two islands.

Tanel Mänd said: "The wind will pick up on Wednesday, so maybe we can send it back. It will be moving one way and the other, for about the next month."

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!