Titanic business.

• Author: Stalker, Ian
• Position: !Ojo! on Tourism

PAUL ALCOCK, president of Northland Discovery Boat Tours, knows exactly what time will catch the attention of his clients as they approach one of the many colossal, seasonal gifts from Greenland to the Canadian province of Newfoundland. When his boat nears an iceberg, Alcock plays the theme from the movie Titanic--a recording that draws a quick reaction.

"You wouldn't believe the expressions on people's faces when we play it," he says. Some passengers laugh, while others become emotional, he adds, with the Titanic tragedy forever creating a link in people's minds between icebergs and the demise of a reputedly unsinkable ship that went down 363 miles off the Newfoundland coast.

Viewing very big icebergs has become very big business in Newfoundland. Alcock says his St. Anthony-based company, which also provides sightings of whales and dolphins in the summer, is one of around a dozen "very serious" Newfoundland companies offering tours that seek out icebergs, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Tours aren't the only manner in which icebergs generate income here. Enterprising Newfoundlanders now sell bottled water made available from pieces of thawed icebergs and even vodka made in part with water that came from smaller chunks of ice labeled "bergy bits." Paul Emmons, whose Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company Ambassatours offers summer excursions in Newfoundland, Hill ask boat captains to retrieve bits of icebergs that can be used for ice cubes; Emmons labels the practice of snaring ice floating on the ocean "ice fishing."

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Although whale sightings generate excitement, Alcock says it's probably the icebergs that are the biggest draw for his firm, and Newfoundland is an ideal place to see them. Some 600 to 800--the great majority having...