Friday, May 22, 2009

Fredrick Sound

5-55-09

We untied the lines and headed out of Petersburg on another stunningly beautiful day. Once we were in Fredrick Sound we were able to see vibrate blue icebergs ( bergy bits, growlers) that were from LeConte Glacier 23 nautical miles southeast of Petersburg. It just happens to be the southernmost active tide water glacier in North America. LeConte is also one of the most actively studied glaciers. The last 22 years student teams have surveyed the face and tracked the glacier's movement, their finding have been used in several scientific publications. While we were not able to view LeConte Glacier only herr bergs we did get to see Baird's Glacier.

We set anchor in Portage Bay. I'm reluctant to describe our surroundings because once again no place on Earth can really be this beautiful and by now I'm sure most of you think I'm making it all up. However neither of us has seen so many Common Loons in one place before, we were treated to a fly by. These birds have a magical call that I just love.

Iceberg: a chunck of ice that breaks off a glacier into the sea.

Bergy Bit: a relatively large piece of floating ice generally extending 1-5 meters or about 3 feet to 16 feet above the surface and is normally about 100-300- square meters in area ( about 1000-3200 sq. feet)

Growler: 1 meter above the surface of the sea and about 20 square meters (200 sq feet)
Definitions according to Nathamiel Bowditch

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