LeConte Bay
We awoke this morning to find that the blue had drained out of the sky and into the ice that surrounded us in LeConte Bay, in the southeastern end of Frederick Sound. Massive icebergs calved from the LeConte Glacier filled the southern horizon, and we quickly boarded Zodiacs and set out to explore their contours and colors. Many of us were fortunate enough to watch icebergs spontaneously overturn or split into pieces, the result of differential melting of the submerged and exposed ice. All of us were able to observe the hundreds of Marbled Murrelets swimming at the surface, then lifting their wings and diving into the ocean, where they used their short, curved wings to “fly” through the water in search of fish and euphausids. Harlequin ducks, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and iceberg-perched Bald Eagles completed the scene.
By ten-thirty, everyone was back aboard and heading north through Frederick Sound towards Mitkof Island and the small fishing town of Petersburg, our afternoon destination. En-route, guests were treated to an interactive talk on glaciers by our resident geologist Joe Holliday. Upon their arrival, many guests put their new knowledge to good use by going on a flight-seeing tour of the nearby masses of ice. Other guests explored a local muskeg, returning with a clearer understanding of the diversity of plant life and the adaptations required to survive in the challenging environment of a Sphagnum bog. Most notable were the beautiful bog orchids and the carnivorous Sundew plant. These plants don’t simply use gnats and midges for pollination – they also consume them! They trap them with a sticky fluid on their leaves, and then secrete enzymes to digest the insects into an absorbable soup.
Guests also took advantage of the opportunity to explore the town of Petersburg, founded in 1891 by Norwegian fishermen. Petersburg is well-known for its halibut and salmon fisheries as well as their catch of Dungeness Crab, many of whom ended the day in our bellies.
As we cruised out of town and back into Frederick Sound, those on deck could watch the many “Petersburg Pigeons” (aka Bald Eagles) soaring in the air or perched on shoreline trees. Opportunistic feeders, eagles such as the one in our daily photo are quick to take advantage of any wayward salmon or carrion. Moments before this photo was taken, five eagles were gathered battling over the flesh, then flying into the evening with dinner dangling from their talons.
We awoke this morning to find that the blue had drained out of the sky and into the ice that surrounded us in LeConte Bay, in the southeastern end of Frederick Sound. Massive icebergs calved from the LeConte Glacier filled the southern horizon, and we quickly boarded Zodiacs and set out to explore their contours and colors. Many of us were fortunate enough to watch icebergs spontaneously overturn or split into pieces, the result of differential melting of the submerged and exposed ice. All of us were able to observe the hundreds of Marbled Murrelets swimming at the surface, then lifting their wings and diving into the ocean, where they used their short, curved wings to “fly” through the water in search of fish and euphausids. Harlequin ducks, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and iceberg-perched Bald Eagles completed the scene.
By ten-thirty, everyone was back aboard and heading north through Frederick Sound towards Mitkof Island and the small fishing town of Petersburg, our afternoon destination. En-route, guests were treated to an interactive talk on glaciers by our resident geologist Joe Holliday. Upon their arrival, many guests put their new knowledge to good use by going on a flight-seeing tour of the nearby masses of ice. Other guests explored a local muskeg, returning with a clearer understanding of the diversity of plant life and the adaptations required to survive in the challenging environment of a Sphagnum bog. Most notable were the beautiful bog orchids and the carnivorous Sundew plant. These plants don’t simply use gnats and midges for pollination – they also consume them! They trap them with a sticky fluid on their leaves, and then secrete enzymes to digest the insects into an absorbable soup.
Guests also took advantage of the opportunity to explore the town of Petersburg, founded in 1891 by Norwegian fishermen. Petersburg is well-known for its halibut and salmon fisheries as well as their catch of Dungeness Crab, many of whom ended the day in our bellies.
As we cruised out of town and back into Frederick Sound, those on deck could watch the many “Petersburg Pigeons” (aka Bald Eagles) soaring in the air or perched on shoreline trees. Opportunistic feeders, eagles such as the one in our daily photo are quick to take advantage of any wayward salmon or carrion. Moments before this photo was taken, five eagles were gathered battling over the flesh, then flying into the evening with dinner dangling from their talons.
