Hubbard Glacier - June 27, 2018

NOTE TO EVERYONE: PLEASE DO NOT LOOK FOR UPDATES ON A DAILY BASIS -- PUBLIC & CRUISE SHIP WIFI IS FAR TOO SLOW TO UPLOAD PHOTOS. I WILL WRITE ON A DAILY BASIS BUT POST BLOGS WITH PHOTOS ONLY WHEN I HAVE GOOD INTERNET ACCESS

The highlight of the trip is the Hubbard Glacier. The ship traveled from Sitka into Disenchantment Bay toward the glacier. People began to get excited and when the crew opened the helicopter deck many passengers went outside to get the first look at the glacier. Equipped with binoculars and cameras and watching from comfort of leather club chairs through the wall-to-wall windows of the Constellation Lounge, we saw the passengers below, all dressed in coats, jackets, hats and coats looking frozen standing on the deck huddled together with the wind whipping their clothes. But they were going to get the first look! We could see the glacier and see that it was immense but we were still 6 miles away. Brrr! Meanwhile, Milos was on the bridge narrating our way through the way passageway over the speaker system. As we approached the glacier, we saw sea lions lounging on ice. And we saw whales! Several humpback were feeding, blowing up tall sprays of water as they took breaths and showing us their tails as they made their dives. I missed it but Tessa saw an Orca as well!

Several factors allow or prevent a ship from maneuvering a position near to the glacier. The law allows ships to get no closer than a quarter-mile for safety reasons. But the tide, number and size of icebergs in the waters and weather can prevent a ship from making it to the quarter-mile limit. We checked the weather before we left home and learned we would probably be sloshing around in rain every day of the trip. So far so good, though, and on this particular day, the weather was magnificent. Are we lucky??? Our ship was able to make the quarter-mile mark and broke the season's record for close proximity to the glacier!

The Hubbard glacier in huge, simply huge! The face of the glacier is 6 miles across and 600 feet tall. Of its height, only about 250 feet is above water and the rest floats below the surface. The ice at the face is 400 years old, as that's how long it takes ice to travel the length of the glacier. Sitting there blue and green and majestic, the glacier will suddenly drop a whole vertical sheet of ice into the ocean. This is called calving. It's not necessarily caused by melting ice. Instead pressure, fissures or water-line melting can cause huge chunks of ice to fall. Some sections of falling ice can be as big as three or four-story buildings. The curious thing is moments after a calve, the sound of the earlier crack and crash will finally reach ears and be heard. Actually witnessing a demonstration of the delayed speed of sound is pretty mind-blowing.

Pity those poor people who stood freezing for hours on the heliport deck eagerly awaiting our arrival at the glacier. Once we arrived within a quarter mile of the glacier, everyone left their warm and cozy inside seats and went deck side. Because we were no longer sailing, there was little wind and the sun was warm!

We probably spend a couple of hours watching and listening to the glacier. The captain rotated the ship 360 degrees so that every single passenger had a chance to see and photograph the glacier up close.