Wildlife - Outside and Inside

Cruising the Glaciers

May 17 and 18, 2025

Fun Facts about Alaska

• Alaska is home to 17 of North America’s 20 tallest mountains.

• Alaska is seismically active, including earthquakes, and also has more than 100 volcanoes and volcanic fields, more  than any other state in the U.S. 

• There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes.

• The state flag was designed by a 13 year-old.

• The state sport is dog mushing.

• The northernmost, easternmost, and westernmost points in the U.S. are found in Alaska

• The geographical area is two times the area of Texas.

• The only battle during WWII that was fought on US soil took place on May 11-30, 1943, after the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands in the battle of Attu

As we were planning our days at sea we checked the Viking Voyage app and this is what we saw for the first day!

Oops!

Outside

Glaciers

Over our two days of cruising we visited several amazing glaciers. The glaciers are awe-inspiring in both looks and size. We were so lucky to spend time viewing the Margerie and Lamplugh Glaciers in Glacier Bay, and the Hubbard Glacier in Yakutat Bay. These glaciers appear similar, but have some significant differences.

They are all large tidewater glaciers, which means they end where the glacier meets the seawater. Margerie begins high in the mountains (elevation 12,680 feet), and is 21 miles long, an average of 350 feet thick and approximately 1 mile wide at the terminus (where it meets the water). The Hubbard Glacier is also a tidewater glacier, located on Yakutat Bay near the village of Yakutat (800 people and 1000 bears!). The Lamplugh Glacier is a smaller glacier, and it is receding by 50-100 feet per year. The Hubbard Glacier is 76 miles long, 1200 feet deep in some areas, and 6.5 miles across (similar to crossing Manhattan). It joins with another glacier on its way to meet the sea in Disenchantment Bay (the name was given to the bay in 1792 because it did not lead to the Northwest Passage).

Margerie:

Lamplugh:

Hubbard:

While most glaciers in the world are currently receding, like the Mendenhall (from a previous blog) and the Lamplugh, Margerie is currently stable, and Hubbard is actually growing. The reason for both of these anomalies has to do with the geologic activity in their area. In particular, the Hubbard Glacier was impacted by a large earthquake in the area which altered the path of the glacier so that it was joined with another glacier. The increased mass causes ice flow to advance more quickly.

We were very fortunate to be able to get close enough to see and hear the glaciers calving and see all the smaller chunks of ice floating in the water . Calving is when a piece on the front of the face breaks off and falls into the water.

Look just to the left of the middle for the water spraying up and rolling away from the glacier. That is the result of calving, where a large chunk of glacier just dropped in the water.

The biggest pieces of ice that fall into the bay are icebergs, the smaller pieces with a height 1-5 meters (remember - about 90% of an iceberg is under water) are called Bergy Bits. Pieces of floating ice less than a meter high are Growlers. Occasionally, the ice on a glacier or iceberg looks bright blue. This happens when pure, highly compressed (no bubbles) glacier ice reflects the short wavelengths of blue light.

Growlers:

Bergy Bits and Blue Ice

Iceberg (small)

Wildlife

Here are pictures of some of the wildlife we saw in this area.

Black-Legged Kittiwake

Mountain Goat

Otters

Humpback Whale

Harbor Seal

Stellar Sea Lions

Inside

In-between all the excursions, we also had time to enjoy shipboard life. The Viking Venus is a beautiful ship with many amenities and great food; all of which are complimented by a truly awesome staff.

Viking Venus - Outside and Inside:

Wonderful Staff (and friends)

Delicious Food:

We appreciate that the Venus offers options for those with dietary needs, such as gluten free, vegan, or lactose free items.

And we appreciate the wide variety of foods that's served aboard the ship:

And just for fun- can you figure out what is going on here? Cool picture Karen!

A special "thank you" to Loren who contributed some of the glacier pictures.

After a fun-filled glacier-packed two days, we are headed to Valdez! None of us have ever been to Valdez, so, this will truly be a new adventure! Come back and see what we found!