Today we woke south of Juneau, near the mouth of Holkham Bay, where the terminal moraine of a glacier lies. Terminal moraines are where a glacier has continually pushed sediment downhill into a single place. This creates a shallow bar where we have to time the tides correctly to enter the bay. The depth can be 1000 feet, then suddenly just 50 feet over the top of the bar, making the currents challenging to navigate. We then cruised through the morning all the way to the back of Tracy Arm fjord. After breakfast, we took Zodiacs closer to South Sawyer Glacier where we witnessed calving (big chunks of ice breaking off) and shooters (ice that has broken off underneath the water and “shoots” to the surface.) There were many harbor seals, gulls, and Arctic terns. We also drove around big blue icebergs that must have broken off recently, because an hour later it looked very different due to melting. Later we had lunch, and the ship repositioned to a small beach next to a waterfall. We then kayaked off that beach for the rest of the afternoon. The weather was off and on rain, just like it should be in Southeast Alaska. We had a lovely dinner, which was followed by an informative talk about iPhone photography by our certified photo instructor Alex. Being able to get close to glaciers and kayak with small chunks of ice in the water was a treat!
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 10 Aug 2023
Tracy Arm Fjord , 8/10/2023, National Geographic Sea Lion
- Aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion
- Alaska
Lauren Boye, Undersea Specialist
Lauren is a steward of the ocean and is happy as long as she is near it. She has many years of experience working on and in the ocean. SCUBA diving is her favorite hobby and fish are her best friends. She also loves spending time on boats and watchin...
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