Any experience that features glaciers needs – for us – to begin by understanding our expectation that NOTHING will likely ever match our experience at the Amalia and Brüggen (Pio XI) glaciers in the Chilean fjords in 2022 (Episode 189).
Yesterday we were in Endicott Arm, a 30-mile long fjord located in southeastern Alaska, within the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area. It’s known for its stunning scenery, including towering granite cliffs, waterfalls, and the magnificent Dawes Glacier at its head.
On our last Alaskan cruise, in August 2023, we couldn’t really see the glaciers for the fog and teeming rain, despite being in Glacier Bay National Park, ostensibly the best place in the state to see glaciers (Episode 428). While Glacier Bay and Endicott Arm are both fjords in Alaska known for their glaciers and scenic beauty, Glacier Bay is a much larger national park with multiple glaciers. Endicott Arm is a narrower fjord with a single tidewater glacier, but we figured seeing one clearly is better than seeing many obscured by fog and rain.
We’d hoped we might also see harbour seals, whales, or bears.
There was indeed a seal lounging on one of the bergy bits.
Some hardy herring gulls made an appearance.
Ted got a quick sighting of whale spout and a bit of the whale’s tail…
… and there was even a bald eagle!
The waters were the typical vibrant green of glacial run-off, and the growlers and bergy bits translucent turquoise. Growlers are small pieces of ice, typically less than 3 ft/0.91m high and less than 215 square feet/20 square meters in area; bergy bits are larger, generally between 3 and 16 feet/0.91 to 4.9 m high and cover an area of roughly 1,000 to 3,000 sq ft/93 to 279 sq m.
The ice of the Dawes Glacier itself was also bright turquoise under a layer of pale grey embedded rock.
We couldn’t get as close to the glacier with a ship as large as the Grand Princess as we did on the much smaller Viking Star, but nonetheless the cold clear skies made today’s viewing pretty spectacular. Maybe not Chile spectacular, but pretty darn gorgeous.
We noticed a cruise ship that did get in close, which gives some perspective as to how large the glacier is.
Around 2 p.m. the Captain announced that there was a brown bear (grizzly) on the shore off the starboard side. I began to suspect he wanted extra weight starboard as he turned the ship, because even people with huge zoom lenses and high-powered binoculars couldn’t seem to find it.
But then Ted did! Far off and blurry, but definitely a brown bear. It’s early in the season for them to be down at the water, but the first of the salmon have started running…
The rest of our day was simply low-key reading, napping, eating, and enjoying live music.
It was certainly a day that highlighted Alaska’s natural beauty.
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
We are vacationing in Southern Florida and also saw a bald eagle this morning. I have never seen one here before, so we Googled if we were in their range. We are. Thanks for providing us some uplifting reading.
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