Glacier Bay-Margerie Glacier, Pt. 2

Part 2!

I love this ice cave opening at the edge of the glacier. So nice and ominous.



For scale, the cave can be seen along with another sight-seeing boat off to starboard.



As I was taking that shot, we heard huge crack and spun around to see a large chunk falling into the water.



One of the interesting things to watch was when the claving would take place and then watch the Kittiwakes zoom in to search for any morsels broken loose or stirred up after the ice hits the water.



More car-sized ice slides off of the terminus and causes a splash.



A larger fall from higher up was much more dramatic!



We knew that more ice would fall and remembered that our room was now facing the glacier so we hurried up to the balcony to check out that view. Here, Carolyn uses the Flip to record some calving.



On the way up to the room we missed a big calving but we were rewarded with the biggest event of our stop before heading away.



I have a bunch of sequence shots of these calvings but they will have to wait for the planned family DVD.



The stop did not disappoint at all. The sounds of that cracking ice will be with me forever. Eerie and beautiful. Could sit there forever.

Next up: Birds! Promise.

Glacier Bay-Margerie Glacier, Pt. 1

I ended up with more photos than I thought I would so I will break it into two posts.

The ship drifted up Tarr Inlet and into position in front of Margerie Glacier and the Sun was coming out nicely to provide excellent views.



I was staring off to the right as the ship was pointed directly at the ice when the guy next to me shouted out that he couldn't believe he just saw the glacier calving. Dang. So fast, I missed it! I knew there would be more opportunities to come.



I learned a new word. Sérac. It refers to blocks of ice formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. They are named after "a Swiss French ricotta-like whey cheese". Who knew?



Some seracs towered over us of from the top of the glacier. This is another mile-long terminus and we were really close here.



As the air continued to warm there was an echoing 'crack' and bits of ice would begin to fall from the face of ice...



...to plunge into the water below.



But these were just the beginning as the ice groaned and cracked. Sometimes the sound seemed to be coming from deep within the structure and we were constantly scanning the glacier to see if we were missing some new calving. Only the hum of the engines and the murmur of the crowd interacted with the stress-induced creaking.



Suddenly, a new section of ice broke free and cameras clicked away.



More shots to follow. Tomorrow. The bigger chunks happened once our side of the ship was swung around. Not complaining.