Cruising Glacier Bay

The Glacier Bay Rangers have joined the ship and all activities other than glacier and wildlife watching have been suspended. We are currently almost stationary beside Margerie Glacier which is about 1 mile wide, with an ice face that is about 250 feet high above the waterline, and a base about 100 feet below sea level.. The ice looks blue. Seemingly when light hits compacted ice, long wavelength colours (reds) are absorbed, while short wavelength colours (blues) reflect back through the ice to your eyes. I didn’t know that but now I do! Margerie Glacier is awe-inspiring. Both to see and to hear. While here we could hear cracking sounds every so often and then thunder-like rolls preceding cascades of ice into the Tarr Inlet - amazing! The Grand Pacific Glacier (just past Margerie), which at one stage filled this inlet, looks more like rocks because avalanches, rock slides, tributary glaciers and the scouring of the valley have caused an accumulation of dirt and rock.

So far we have seen several bald eagles in the distance and some seals.

Jim and I have spent most of the morning out on our balcony clad in fleeces, raincoats, hats and gloves - we make a very pretty sight! The ship has now turned so that people on starboard side can experience Margerie and the Great Pacific glaciers. We now have a view of minor glaciers coming down the sides of mountains that are ribbed with very atmospheric clouds. The sea is totally still as we make our way south out of Tarr inlet. The atmosphere is beautiful and peaceful.

The final big glacier that we stopped to admire was the Lamplugh Glacier which is the most blue of  Glacier Bay’s glaciers. This was fantastic as we saw several cascades/calvings and one really spectacular one. I got some evidence of it on camera (bad photo of course!). We have left Glacier Bay and are making our way to Ketchikan where we stop tomorrow morning. The last hour or so has been very exciting as we have seen many humpback whales - big and small. I also saw a sea lion and lots of cormorants.

We're off to beautify ourselves for the second and final formal night of the cruise!