Tracy Arm: The Magic Kingdom
Glaciers are among the great marvels of Alaska and the deep blue ice and rugged terrain in Tracy Arm, northeast of Petersburg, makes this region one of the world's most beautiful places. Everywhere, waterfalls splash down glacier-sculpted cliffs thousands of feet high. In a small boat, we get intimate with waterfalls, seals and icebergs.
The fantastic icebergs of Tracy Arm are a never-ending source of photos. The handful shown here represent hundreds of iceberg photos taken on two visits to Tracy Arm. The amazing blue color is caused by the extreme compression of the ice under thousands of feet of glacier. Air bubbles are compressed out of the ice, resulting in the blue color, which is even more remarkable on overcast days.
Harbor seals raise their pups on glacier icebergs, where the young are safe from predators. A pup is just visible by the mother's tail (left) and mama seal (above) seems to be smiling proudly at her youngster.
