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For anyone going on a cruise in Alaska, seeing glaciers is an absolute must. On our ship, the main place we go to see glaciers, is Glacier Bay, where we spend most of the day sailing up a beautiful fjord with several beautiful glaciers. Rangers come  on board to give information about the different sights over the PA system, and also to answer any questions guests may have. All the way at the end of the fjord there is an area where you can see two different glaciers, and the rangers make the ship stop here for a full hour.

Glacier Bay fjord cruising

Beautiful fjord cruising in Glacier Bay

 

Local wildlife

Local wildlife

 

Cruising Glacier Bay - visitors

Visitors

Glaciers are masses of ice, snow, water, and rock that are formed when snow and ice accumulation exceeds summer melting. They “retreat” when melting outpaces snowfall.In  1850, the area now comprising the national park had 150 glaciers. There are 25 active glaciers remaining in the park today. The current glaciers in the park are estimated to be at least 7,000 years old. The main glacier has played a big role in forming the fjord itself. Today this glacier is very muddy, and almost looks like solid rock. You can see the white/blue part of the glacier further up, and also some telltale blue cracks closer to the water that doe reveal that it is a glacier.

The big glacier

Its big !

Coming down on the side is the Margerie Glacier, which I think is the most impressive glacier. It is a fast moving glacier, and if the weather is good, it has a lot of calving. With the loud cracks sounding like thunder and the pieces of ice falling down into the water this really is an impressive sight. The glacier is constantly moving and I could notice major differences in the amount of ice between each of our calls there.

Margerie Glacier

Margerie Glacier on a sunny day

 

Glacier calving

Calving !

 

Slightly cold but worth it for the view

Slightly cold but worth it for the view

One of the most fascinating thing with this glacier is how the colors change depending on the weather. While bright sunshine results in more calving and prettier pictures of the surrounding mountains and the fjord, it leaves the glacier with one color, white. On cloudy days the light hits the glacier in a different way and brings out all these beautiful shades of blue.

So many shades of blue

So many shades of blue

 

Close to the glacier 

Our captain navigates us close to the glacier

For crew members we normally get hot chocolate and cookies up on the forward deck, while we see how close to the glacier, our Captain is able to go. It is always such a welcoming break from the busy Alaskan cruises.