Connie ....
While we were sightseeing in Whittier we made reservations on a glacier cruise for the next day. This marine tour cruised through the calm protected waters of Prince William Sound. also on board was a Chugach National Forest Ranger who narrated the entire trip. She helped us learn so much about marine life, wildlife and the ever changing glaciers. We enjoyed her very much.
The first photo is as we were leaving port. It was not a pretty day weather wise, in fact it rained the entire time. We used our plastic camera protective bags and made the best of it. It is very cold near the glaciers and the water temp is around 35 degrees.
This is Surprise Glacier. As you can see, as the glacier moves it leaves ice behind that eventually will melt and form beautiful waterfalls.
With a little patience and cameras ready we were able to see some awesome calving of the glacier. This was our third marine cruise and these were by far the best shots of this kind so far. It's hard to explain just how dramatic it is; tons of ice breaking into the water! It doesn't always happen, so when it does it's quite exciting.
The black striations in the ice are called medial moraines. These occur as the ice is moving and collecting rock and sediment. These form on top of existing glaciers. All different types of rock and sediment are mixed together.
Looking to the other direction of the glacier is totally different. Here you see vegetation on the cliff sides with many waterfalls from the snow melt of the mountain snow. There are so many waterfalls here in Alaska from the very small to those cascading down the mountains.
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