Glacier Zodiak

Took a ride out onto a glacial lagoon on a zodiac boat. Fully fitted in flotation suits and life jackets. The guide joked that the suits would float us but only keep us warm for about a minute were we to go overboard.

Shortly into the boat ride one of the larger bergs flipped over apparently due a chunk breaking off or just continued melting below the surface. We weren’t real close to it as it flipped, but we could certainly see it happen. When that happens, it exposes more of the blue glacial ice rather than the ice which has been exposed to the atmosphere which is more white colored.

We then stopped and watched a seal lounging on very small berg. It didn’t seem to care that we were there.

Finally we went off to the face of the glacier. The guide told us that several bergs had calved off that morning and we did see one that still had the blue coloration. He told us that one had calved off from underneath the water line.

The face of the glacier is long - maybe a couple of miles. But what is hard to grasp is the height of the face. He told us that it was 150 to 300 feet tall. It was just difficult to find perspective on the size of it. Even more impressive when you consider that only 10% of floating ice shows above the surface. Yes, at that point the glacier is floating. Which means that the full face of glacier might be as much as a half mile high.Read more