MOSCOW, July 12 (UPI) -- Plans were under way to evacuate a team of Russian scientists from their camp on an ice floe in the Arctic after it started melting sooner than expected.
When the 20 scientists set up their research station on the floe last September, it measured more than 16,000 feet by about 9,800 feet.
Their plan was to stay on it until this September, but the researchers have found their research camp has shrunk to just 1,968 feet by 984 feet, BBC reported Saturday.
The British news service reported the floe faces complete break-up as it drifts toward relatively warm waters.
An icebreaker and another vessel are on their way to the floe, which is about 20 miles from the Spitsbergen Islands. The ships are expected to reach the scientists in the coming days.
Rescuers will return the scientists to the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk, BBC reported.
The ice expedition was organized by Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.
