Ilulissat Ice Cruising

Back onboard after our trek in Ilulissat, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the dining room while Ultramarine repositioned for our afternoon zodiac cruise amongst the ice.

There is simply too much ice in the Icefjord to safely cruise there. No problem, however, cruising around the bergs that have left the fjord to begin their journey to wherever the currents take them. Some of these bergs, which head into the North Atlantic eventually, have been observed as far as 2,000 miles away from their place of birth.

Fabrice, who is one of our biologists on this expedition, took us on a fantastic cruise around the ice. His years of experience in the polar regions allowed him to go where others might not have dared. He knew how to read the ice, staying away from some of the bergs and approaching others … always at a safe distance. In fact, one of the bergs he said we should only appreciate from a distance gave us a good sized calving when one side fell completely apart.

The group size for zodiac cruises are kept to 8 passengers or less. On this cruise, however, we had one extra person … Dave, our expedition photographer. Thanks to him, we have a wonderful memory-shot by which to forever remember this outing.Read more