#margerie glacier

[vanwinkle11]

Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park on May 23, 2023

[maritimeorca]

From the archives Via Flickr: Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park seen from the Norwegian Pearl

[notthatkindofpainter]

MARGERIE GLACIER, GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK

2011, photograph

It is not too late to do something about climate change, but one day it will be. Vote accordingly.

[wozziebear]

The impressive Margerie glacier from yesterday's Glacier Bay cruise. Weather has been great the whole trip.

[fentonphoto]

The Margerie Glacier with what I believe to be Mount Root at the border of the Alaska - Canadian border in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

[javiegoround]

Alaska: Voyage of the Glaciers

Alaska: Voyage of the Glaciers

Alaska. It’s probably not on top of everyone’s bucketlist. But I think it should always be included… because how many times will you see a glacier in your lifetime? Don’t let the weather fool you too. It’s not as bad as it seem. Alaska is such a beautiful place. I owe my love for travel to my Mom. I used to be a home buddy. But ever since I moved to the States, my urge to travel started when she…

[travelafter55]

Alaska Sept. 2016 - Glacier Bay

Alaska – Day 4 Glacier Bay National Park

The weather on our 8-day trip continued to be splendid. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise without a cloud in the sky. Unheard of in September in Alaska, which, along with October, the two months are the rainiest of the year.

Volendam passengers eager to see the tidewater glaciers

Our ship, the Volendam, had as its destination, the tidewater glaciers of Glacier Bay, a National Park in Alaska. A tidewater glacier is defined as reaching from the mountains all the way down to the water’s edge. Tidewater glaciers are the ones you’ve seen the videos of where big chunks break off and fall into the icy waters. With most of the glaciers receding, there are only 12 tidewater glaciers remaining. There are many glaciers in the mountains, but they are not tidewater glaciers.

I saw from our stateroom window a very swift boat approach our ship at about 7:30 a.m. The boat carried a pilot and two park rangers. One of the rangers was giving a narration/presentation about Glacier Bay on the ship’s ninth level in what is called the Crow’s Nest. The view from the windows of the Crow’s Nest is across the bow and about half way down the port and starboard sides.

During the presentation, she mentioned she had seen a humpback whale about 400 yards off the starboard side of the ship. So, most of the 100 or so people had their eyes trained on the water and with that, the 80-foot, 40-ton humpback did a full breach out of the water. The ranger said she had only seen that twice this year. It was spectacular.

As the ship passed a steep, rocky piece of land known as Gloomy Knob, several people in the Crow’s Nest spotted a few sure-footed, all-white mountain goats. I did see one that seemed to be taking a siesta as it was laying down.

Some 250 years ago, Glacier Bay was made up entirely of ice. And today, we had 65 miles to travel by ship to reach the tidal glaciers.

On the port side, the ship passed Reid Glacier, and then came to a halt for about 15 minutes in front of Lamplugh Glacier.

Lumplugh glacier, a tidewater glacier that touches into the water

And then the ship was allowed for the first time in four and a half months to enter Johns Hopkins Inlet (This is a breeding ground for the large sea lions and ships were not allowed in until 2 days prior to our visit). We got within four nautical miles of the Johns Hopkins Glacier where the ship stayed for a half hour before turning around. We were all stunned that we were four miles away because the glacier looked like it was only a half mile away. These glaciers are huge. There are no roads within 70 miles of that particular spot.

Some of the glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park are receding and some are growing. Johns Hopkins is growing and our next destination, the famous Margerie Glacier, is also growing. The latter is 21 miles long and it takes the ice at its source 200 years to move to the ocean. Nearby is Mount Fairweather, 15,300, and gets snow year-around.

Glacier in front. Mount Fairweather, tallest peak, several miles away

The ship stopped close by (500 yards of so away) for one hour; the people outside on the decks could hear the ice groaning while it was cracking and getting ready to fall off.

Manning the rail on a glorious day in Glacier Bay National Park

I was outside. The weather was sunny and beautiful. At one point, I did have my video cam on, when I heard an explosion noise and all of the people manning the rail let out a collective gasp as one huge chunk broke off and slid into the ocean. I was able to whip my camera around to catch the tail end of the glacier as it entered the water. Then, as the ship started its return journey, two huge pieces of glacier broke off, about 30 seconds apart. It had been a rare and spectacular show for all passengers who had been watching this glacier.

Notice in the center of the photo, the ice is hitting the water after breaking off

Another tidal glacier, the Grand Pacific Glacier, is adjacent to the Margerie Glacier, but is harder to see. It is receding and the ice is dark and covered with dirty broken rock. Although only a half mile away from the Margerie, the Grand Pacific is located in Canada and reaches 35 miles inland.

Grand Pacific Glacier is dark; it extends 36 miles inland into Canada (the white specs in the water are pieces of ice that have broken off)

The trip back out of Glacier Bay was under clear blue skies. We had been blessed with a beautiful day. There were no other cruise ships on Glacier Bay that day. The ship’s captain mentioned we had the best weather day of the 2016 season.

Johns Hopkins Glacier from a distance of about six miles 

[jenniferstolzer]

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Margerie glacier

[maritimeorca]

From the archives Via Flickr: Margerie Glacier calving in Glacier Bay National Park seen from the Norwegian Pearl

[newsdock]

Putin awards a posthumous Order of Honour on Total's Margerie

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded a posthumous Order of Honour to Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of France's Total oil company, killed when a business jet collided with a snow plough during takeoff at Moscow airport in October. The order was granted for de Margerie's "major contribution to Russian-French economic and cultural relations", the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday. ... http://dlvr.it/7NvZDp

[americasgreatoutdoors]

Fed by massive snowfall in the high Fairweather Range, Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park is a rarity in today's warming world...a healthy and stable tidewater glacier that continues to calve ice into the sea. Learn more at: http://www.nps.gov/glba/naturescience/glaciers.htm Photo: National Park Service