Endicott Arm
Our morning in Southeast Alaska opened with low clouds and rain, a traditional greeting for travelers to this temperate rain forest. We sailed south from Juneau along Stephen’s Passage and entered Endicott Arm, a narrow fjord in the Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror Wilderness. After breakfast we launched the Zodiacs and explored the upper reach of Endicott Arm.
Glacial features are the norm in this deep and narrow fjord. Granitic rocks are carved and polished by ice that partially filled the valley as recently as the “Little Ice Age” between the 12th and mid 19th centuries. The major glacial advance that climaxed about 18,000 years ago left only a few peaks above the ice and numerous hanging-valleys within the drainage. Today, water flows or falls from these high valleys into the fjord below.
The terminus of the Dawes Glacier and towers two hundred feet above the water line. Loud thunderclaps announce the occasional calving of ice from the cliff face. We focus our eyes and observe a very large collapse, and are forced to retreat rapidly to avoid the approaching wave. Hundreds of icebergs surround our inflatable boats and the Sea Lion and act as a temporary refuge for numerous harbor seals. These shy creatures inhabit the upper reaches of the fjord to avoid predation from Orcas and to birth and wean their young. Other wildlife observed included numerous bird species including Arctic terns, marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, the Bonaparte’s, mew, herring and glaucous-winged Gulls and black oystercatchers. As we left Tracy Arm, two black bears were seen briefly foraging along the shore.
An adult female humpback whale and her nursing calf joined us after dinner as we re-entered Stephen’s Passage. With the same energy displayed by many of our young shipmates, the youthful whale breached the surface with a brief but dramatic display of exuberance. This was truly a fitting end to a wonderful beginning!
Our morning in Southeast Alaska opened with low clouds and rain, a traditional greeting for travelers to this temperate rain forest. We sailed south from Juneau along Stephen’s Passage and entered Endicott Arm, a narrow fjord in the Tracy Arm-Ford’s Terror Wilderness. After breakfast we launched the Zodiacs and explored the upper reach of Endicott Arm.
Glacial features are the norm in this deep and narrow fjord. Granitic rocks are carved and polished by ice that partially filled the valley as recently as the “Little Ice Age” between the 12th and mid 19th centuries. The major glacial advance that climaxed about 18,000 years ago left only a few peaks above the ice and numerous hanging-valleys within the drainage. Today, water flows or falls from these high valleys into the fjord below.
The terminus of the Dawes Glacier and towers two hundred feet above the water line. Loud thunderclaps announce the occasional calving of ice from the cliff face. We focus our eyes and observe a very large collapse, and are forced to retreat rapidly to avoid the approaching wave. Hundreds of icebergs surround our inflatable boats and the Sea Lion and act as a temporary refuge for numerous harbor seals. These shy creatures inhabit the upper reaches of the fjord to avoid predation from Orcas and to birth and wean their young. Other wildlife observed included numerous bird species including Arctic terns, marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, the Bonaparte’s, mew, herring and glaucous-winged Gulls and black oystercatchers. As we left Tracy Arm, two black bears were seen briefly foraging along the shore.
An adult female humpback whale and her nursing calf joined us after dinner as we re-entered Stephen’s Passage. With the same energy displayed by many of our young shipmates, the youthful whale breached the surface with a brief but dramatic display of exuberance. This was truly a fitting end to a wonderful beginning!
