Endicott Arm
Daylight arrives in the early hours now. By 3:00 in the morning there is light enough to see clearly, and the sun rises before 4:00 a.m. We are not up and functioning yet at this hour, but by six o’clock a few of us were, and by seven most had woken, a few performing stretching exercises on the aft deck with Eliza, our Wellness Specialist.
The sheer cliffs of Endicott Arm required craning the neck upwards, and the sunlight glistened off the highest rounded peaks created by snowmelt. Blue sky peeked beyond clouds slowly dispersing as we approached the Dawes Glacier at the end of the arm. The ice was spread out, but huge ice bergs had the Captain on alert as we glided slowly and quietly among them.
On a few, harbor seals were resting. The presence of the ship was completely non-threatening, because our glide disturbed them not in the least. With telephoto lens, this photograph caught a newborn harbor seal pup at its mother’s feet (or flippers) looking up with mild curiosity. At possibly less than 24 hours old, umbilical cord still attached but no placenta in sight, it looked healthy and ready for life. Phoca vitulina, the scientific name means “calf-like”, and the gaze of this little individual justifies the nomenclature. Pups can swim and dive within minutes of birth and do (no evidence of placenta seems to indicate they had already moved to a fresh ice berg).
There are regulations in effect that require visitors to keep their distance, and we try to adhere strictly to the 100 yard distance, if not more when possible. Zodiacs seems to elicit stronger reactions from the seals, so for this very reason we try to stay even further distant when we set out for some adventuring in the ice in our inflatables.
Today at Dawes Glacier was magnificent, and we were rewarded by falling ice from the glacier face. Even a “shooter” was seen (ice which calves off from below the water line, and bobs to the surface (although “bob” is an inadequate term for a piece of ice several tons in weight which creates displacement waves as it surfaces). There is nothing quite so thrilling as being in a Zodiac surrounded by ice!
The afternoon had us on shore, our guest’s first real adventure into the Tongass National Forest. Following known bear trails, the walkers saw and experienced the mossy interior, soft underfoot surrounded by soft sounds. Others kayaked out to bergy bits and waterfalls on the far side of William’s Cove; an impromptu Zodiac cruise spotted a humpback in the vicinity of the big bergs at the mouth of the cove.
Welcome to Southeast Alaska!
Daylight arrives in the early hours now. By 3:00 in the morning there is light enough to see clearly, and the sun rises before 4:00 a.m. We are not up and functioning yet at this hour, but by six o’clock a few of us were, and by seven most had woken, a few performing stretching exercises on the aft deck with Eliza, our Wellness Specialist.
The sheer cliffs of Endicott Arm required craning the neck upwards, and the sunlight glistened off the highest rounded peaks created by snowmelt. Blue sky peeked beyond clouds slowly dispersing as we approached the Dawes Glacier at the end of the arm. The ice was spread out, but huge ice bergs had the Captain on alert as we glided slowly and quietly among them.
On a few, harbor seals were resting. The presence of the ship was completely non-threatening, because our glide disturbed them not in the least. With telephoto lens, this photograph caught a newborn harbor seal pup at its mother’s feet (or flippers) looking up with mild curiosity. At possibly less than 24 hours old, umbilical cord still attached but no placenta in sight, it looked healthy and ready for life. Phoca vitulina, the scientific name means “calf-like”, and the gaze of this little individual justifies the nomenclature. Pups can swim and dive within minutes of birth and do (no evidence of placenta seems to indicate they had already moved to a fresh ice berg).
There are regulations in effect that require visitors to keep their distance, and we try to adhere strictly to the 100 yard distance, if not more when possible. Zodiacs seems to elicit stronger reactions from the seals, so for this very reason we try to stay even further distant when we set out for some adventuring in the ice in our inflatables.
Today at Dawes Glacier was magnificent, and we were rewarded by falling ice from the glacier face. Even a “shooter” was seen (ice which calves off from below the water line, and bobs to the surface (although “bob” is an inadequate term for a piece of ice several tons in weight which creates displacement waves as it surfaces). There is nothing quite so thrilling as being in a Zodiac surrounded by ice!
The afternoon had us on shore, our guest’s first real adventure into the Tongass National Forest. Following known bear trails, the walkers saw and experienced the mossy interior, soft underfoot surrounded by soft sounds. Others kayaked out to bergy bits and waterfalls on the far side of William’s Cove; an impromptu Zodiac cruise spotted a humpback in the vicinity of the big bergs at the mouth of the cove.
Welcome to Southeast Alaska!
