Photos: Massive ice shelf collapsing off Antarctica

The true-color blue area is breaking off the rest of the ice shelf. A narrow, 3.7-mile section is all that remains to protect from further crumbling, though scientists say that, with Antarctica's summer just ending, they don't expect further disintegration in the next few months.

"This unusual show is over for this season," Ted Scambos, lead scientist for the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said in a statement. "But come January, we'll be watching to see if the Wilkins continues to fall apart."