South Sawyer Glacier
The Sea Lion began her newest voyage with considerable excitement this morning. A black bear was sighted foraging along the rocky shore. With the tide near low, it was feeding on the exposed barnacles and paid us little notice. Captain Duke brought the ship closer and the only sounds on deck where the clicks of shutters. Following breakfast we continued traveling up the twenty-mile long fjord. The 1000-foot cliffs, still shrouded in cloud added drama to the scene. The walls on either side are ribboned with water falls and the waterway so narrow as to prevent large cruise ships from visiting. Ice bergs, bergy bits and growlers dotted the surface and as the density of ice increased the helmsman had to focus all attention on steering. Named for Benjamin Franklin Tracy, the Secretary of the Navy from 1889 to 1893, the spectacular fjord, Tracy Arm, ends at the Sawyer Glaciers. Both Sawyer and South Sawyer flow from the Stikine ice field and stand as impressive tidewater glaciers. What we hoped to see was the calving action at the glacier's face. As small chunks or thousand ton towers of ice break from the face and plunge into the water there is an associated splash that may reach one hundred feet or more and reports like artillery fire. The Indians of Southeast Alaska called this white thunder. We were in fact rewarded with some impressive calving while we watched from one-quarter mile away. Even more exciting was the sudden appearance of huge 'shooters', pieces of ice that break from the glacier beneath the surface and then rise up, rolling and creating waves until they finally settle into equilibrium on the surface. Near lunchtime we began threading our way through the ice and back towards Stephen's Passage where we anchored for interpretive walks ashore with our Expedition Staff.
The Sea Lion began her newest voyage with considerable excitement this morning. A black bear was sighted foraging along the rocky shore. With the tide near low, it was feeding on the exposed barnacles and paid us little notice. Captain Duke brought the ship closer and the only sounds on deck where the clicks of shutters. Following breakfast we continued traveling up the twenty-mile long fjord. The 1000-foot cliffs, still shrouded in cloud added drama to the scene. The walls on either side are ribboned with water falls and the waterway so narrow as to prevent large cruise ships from visiting. Ice bergs, bergy bits and growlers dotted the surface and as the density of ice increased the helmsman had to focus all attention on steering. Named for Benjamin Franklin Tracy, the Secretary of the Navy from 1889 to 1893, the spectacular fjord, Tracy Arm, ends at the Sawyer Glaciers. Both Sawyer and South Sawyer flow from the Stikine ice field and stand as impressive tidewater glaciers. What we hoped to see was the calving action at the glacier's face. As small chunks or thousand ton towers of ice break from the face and plunge into the water there is an associated splash that may reach one hundred feet or more and reports like artillery fire. The Indians of Southeast Alaska called this white thunder. We were in fact rewarded with some impressive calving while we watched from one-quarter mile away. Even more exciting was the sudden appearance of huge 'shooters', pieces of ice that break from the glacier beneath the surface and then rise up, rolling and creating waves until they finally settle into equilibrium on the surface. Near lunchtime we began threading our way through the ice and back towards Stephen's Passage where we anchored for interpretive walks ashore with our Expedition Staff.
