Icebergs near Uppsala glacier

The catamaran was extremely fast and within 30-40 min we were deep in the fjords. We first encountered the icebergs at the opening of the fjord towards the Uppsala glacier.

The Upsala Glacier is a large valley glacier on the eastern side of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The Upsala Glacier is well known for its rapid retreat. Its retreat has been ongoing since the glacier was first documented in 1810. The name comes from the old spelling with one p of Uppsala University, which sponsored the first glaciological studies in the area. The University is located in Uppsala, Sweden.

Due to the rapid retreat of the glacier, the front of the glacial wall keeps breaking at regular intervals and so the fjord can have a huge quantity of icebergs floating everywhere. This could get very dangerous for the tour boats if a huge chunk of ice breaks off causing a tsunami. The rangers at the National Park continuously monitor the glacier and decide on a daily basis if the boats can enter the fjord or not. For the last few months the boats had got permission only to go till the mouth of the fjord and it was no different when we were there.
The icebergs were huge. They looked a bit small from the catamaran but when we saw the other catamarans next to them, we realized their massive size and how deceptive they can be.Read more