Entries about icebergs

The berg emerged out of the thick fog glowing dull blue against the heavy, low cloud cover. At this distance, I could see that it was HUGE. As we drew closer, the vivid blue of deep glacier ice grew stronger. Blue glacier ice is more vivid with cloudy skies than with sunny ones. This is thought to be due to several factors, but there is no definitive answer as to why. All I know, is that this piece of ice was the most remarkable I have ever seen.

Since it was still early morning (around 5 am) and we were ahead of schedule, the captain decided to make slow circles around the berg, allowing everyone to get a fantastic look at the floating glowing sapphire. I grabbed my camera, and spent a couple of hours taking photos, and finishing my early morning chores. Even as I worked, my eyes were drawn to the ice. I couldn’t get over how blue it was! It was amazing, mesmerizing, and just plain zing to the dreary morning.

This berg was a “shooter.” A shooter is a piece of ice that comes from the bottom of the glacier underneath the water. As forces shape the ice, they occasionally crack off, and come shooting towards the surface in a massive upwelling of surging water and ice. Shooters can be massive, as this piece shows, and to witness this hunk rising to the surface must have been amazing. The water displaced by the ice surges outward in a large circular wave. The next time you are in the tub, stick your hand on the bottom and lift upward sharply, keeping your hand underneath the surface. The upwelling of water is on a micro scale compared to glacier size chunks of ice.

I could also tell this was a shooter just by the surface of the ice. It had bizarre waves and carvings all over the surface. Most of the berg had clear crisp ice. It hadn’t been exposed to weather for very long which breaks down the surface of the ice allowing air to permeate the inside causing it to turn white and cloudy.

When the ice is held in place under the water by the glacier, the ice is carved by pressure and currents of the surrounding sea. When icebergs break free and float away, more forces continue to work on its surface. The weather erodes the exposed ice, and the water continues to carve the underwater surface. After awhile, the iceberg will roll exposing new areas to the air, continuing the cycle until it melts.

Enough science. Look at this ice as a beautiful work of art. How many eons have patiently carved the delicate ice forms? Look at the coloring, the myriad of subtle blues. This is a masterpiece of ice carving, and one I won’t soon forget. Words don’t really do this piece justice, but perhaps these pictures can.


This iceberg started at the Sawyer Glacier, or the South Sawyer Glacier. This afternoon, we were able to position the ship within easy sight of the Sawyer glacier at the head of Tracy Arm. I write a lot about Tracy Arm, and I’ve been lucky to visit here once a week. This place just keeps getting better, and the views that strike me continue to change. It could be the countless waterfalls, the rock formations, the icebergs, the glaciers, wildlife or clouds. Tracy Arm has it all, and shows off more of its stunning beauty with each visit.

AN ALASKAN WELCOME
The Alaskan Inside Passage Welcoming Committee consisted of several pods of actively feeding humpback whales. In fact, we were surrounded by them. I counted ten, in three different pods. Humpbacks migrate to Alaska in the summer months to feed before returning to warmer southern waters to repopulate themselves. They don’t eat when down south (a fact I’m skeptical about) and to me it’s understandable that they might be a tad bit hungry by the time they get back to Alaska.

It was getting late, but in mid-June in Alaska, there is still enough light to see several hundred yards away. To the southwest the water was bright like polished silver. A smattering of stars were dully poking out through broken gray clouds, the islands were a black outline of fir trees and impassive mountains.

The whales were tail slapping the surface of the water in order to stun their food. They would then lunge through the collected ball of fish mash with their mouths agape breaking through the surface of the water to salute the stars before clamping their big mouths shut. Humpbacks are baleen whales which strain the fish from seawater using a baleen. A baleen runs lengthwise along the top of a humpbacks mouth in a long series of combs designed to catch the fish, but allow the seawater to pass through.

I watched this amazing behavior through the high powered bridge binoculars. As the whales broke through the surface with a giant mouth full of fish, I swore I saw them smile. Then they would quietly sink back into the water.

TREES

We were sailing south through Glacier Bay National Park, and were exploring a small bay in hopes of seeing some wildlife. The sun was at a perfect height in the southwest to brilliantly highlight the foothill forest that surrounded the mountains. The deciduous trees have a healthy full coverage of leaves now, though their season is a lot shorter then other parts of the country. Summer has taken hold of Alaska. The forest was a good mix of brightly lit deciduous and very dark fir trees. The contrast between the light and the dark made both types of tree stand out.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” ~Chinese Proverb

“I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.” ~Willa Cather, 1913

THE DEVIL’S THUMB

This monolith was first climbed by Krakauer. It sits high above the small island community of Petersburg, and is seen best on brilliant blue sky days that happen occasionally here in the inside passage.

TRACY ARM

Tracy Arm never disappoints. Today I saw two harbor seals lounging peacefully on an ice flow. They watched the boat, but sensed no harm in the dozen of us that were taking photographs.

Look at the amazing layering and color of this glacial iceberg. This is a color found only in glacial ice and I find myself watching it for long periods of time. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to it, but it’s hypnotizing.
I wish my eyes were this color; I could get away with anything I wanted to.

I’ve been re-inspired by Alaska. Close encounters with Orca whales will do that to a guy. Hell, just looking out at the wilderness landscapes of this state will re-inspire a guy. I’m glad to be back in Alaska. I’ve surprised myself this week by realizing how badly I’ve missed this untamed place. Here are 24 photos that are just a glimpse into the vast wildness that makes up this amazing state. I’ve seen all this in only a week. Imagine what a summer could hold…

TRACY ARM

GREEN SCENES

WHERE OCEAN MEETS LAND

ORCAS

GLACIER

TREES

YOUR HERO

Alaska is everything you've ever dreamed of. Go.