Alaska Cruise - Day 4 Tracy Arm On Day 4 We Cruised Through the Ice Fields in Tracy Arm Alaska

Tracy Arm , Alaska

After 2 ports in 2 days it was time for some slow cruising through the Tracy Arm fjord. I must admit that when I left San Diego to go on this cruise I didn't really know what a fjord was, but after some time on the ship I started asking questions and eventually came up with this definition from Wikipedia.

A view from the back of the ship, heading out of the fjord

A fjord (or fiord) is a long, narrow estuary with steep sides, made when a glacial valley is flooded by the sea. The seeds of a fjord are laid when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley through abrasion of the surrounding bedrock by the rocks and sediment it carries. Many such valleys were formed during recent ice ages when the sea was at a much lower level than it is today. At the end of such a period, the climate warms up again and glaciers retreat. Sea level rises due to an influx of water from melting ice sheets and glaciers around the world (it rose over 100 m after the last ice age), inundating the vacated valleys with seawater to form fjords.

Fjords are often very deep in their upper and middle reaches, in the case of Norway's Hardangerfjord dropping 800 m (2,624 ft) below sea level, although fjords generally have a sill or rise at their mouth associated with the previous glacier's terminal moraine.

A Short Clip of what Cruising the Tracy Arm Fjord Looks Like.  

Simply put, a fjord is a valley carved out by a huge piece of ice over many years and then filled with water. I know the science minded among you will cringe at that sentence, but hey, were on vacation here!

Ok, back to cruising Tracy Arm. This was a relaxing day, the cruising was very slow because of the icebergs in the water and the views were spectacular. The water was very calm, almost like glass in some areas because the passage way is protected on both sides by the cliffs of the fjord.

The Tracy Arm Fjord, a beautiful day to see wildlife, icebergs and the blue glaciers.

The icebergs originate from a glacier called "Sawyer's Glacier" that comes into view as the ship makes a U turn in the fjord. During the day I saw an Orca whale and some seals swimming around the ship, others saw seals resting on the icebergs and eagles flying through the passage. It's a very peaceful setting, almost surreal, unlike anything I have ever seen.

Here's a view from the top deck looking back into the fjord

You can see the blue coloring in this iceberg on Tracy Arm.

We cruised the arm for a few hours, so there was plenty of time to eat, sit out on the deck of the ship and watch nature. You would think that such a huge ship would disrupt the peaceful surroundings, but the ship runs very quiet and the wildlife in the area seemed to ignore the ship completely.

If your interested in reading on please CLICK HERE to read about our day in Prince Rupert.