In Twillingate, I signed on with Mr. Boyd, who runs a 28-foot, 12-passenger aluminum boat named the Silver Bullet, which he deftly maneuvered into close enough range that we could see the turquoise underbelly of a tabular iceberg. The white above-water mass was laced with lines of a rich royal-blue color, which were essentially narrow channels cut by melting water. (Similar channels in some algae-heavy icebergs make them look for all the world like giant green-striped peppermints, but most have hues of blue.)

Here, by the way, is as good a place as any to include the caveat that what I saw was only — and I’m sorry I have no more creative way to say it, which is why I waited — the tip of the icebergs.

Normally, what you and I see of any given iceberg above the surface of the water is only 10 to 12 percent of its total mass, explained Stephen E. Bruneau, an ice expert at Newfoundland’s Memorial University and author of the super-definitive book, “A Field Guide to Icebergs of Newfoundland and Labrador.”