Thursday, June 2, 2011

Sunshine and ice

May 28, 2011



Sunshine and ice

We came to Alaska to see icebergs and glaciers and today was the day. We experienced a few icebergs at the entrance to Tracy Arm off Holkham Bay and anchored accordingly. We had been schooled by a friend to anchor just inside the cove and to the right so that any bergs coming in during the night would ground themselves on the rocks and lessen the chance of them colliding with Sea Mist during the night. At anchor in the cove we had a spectacular view through the trees .

We saw pods of humpback whales on and off all day yesterday but we were surprised this morning to see them feeding near the icebergs when we entered the arm. As always there were eagles and we spotted this pair of sitting on top of an iceberg.

The quantity and magnitude of icebergs increased as we progressed up Tracy Arm to where the North and South Sawyer glaciers loomed to the left and right of the head. The sheer mass of each glacier was nothing I could have imagined.



Who knew icebergs were blue? I was surprised by the brilliant blue colors of the compressed ice at the core of each iceberg. The size and shape of many reminded me of enormous floats in a watery parade.

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