The Iceberg Blues
Print"The more I reflect on this trip to the Arctic, the more I realize its impact and beauty. It is one of the most magnificent and unique places on our planet."
Star Slipock
SEED volunteer
My husband and I took an expedition cruise to the Arctic in August of 2009. The trip was fantastic, with many opportunities to see amazing sights, and to capture them with my new digital camera.
|
Photo courtesy of Star Slipock. Our cruise through the Arctic took us between icebergs as we moved along the magnificent coastline of jagged mountains. |
|
|
above: The zodiac trip allowed us to get up close to Arctic birds, like these gulls on a small iceberg. right: The zodiac is completely overshadowed by the glacier and mountain as we cruise toward the Arctic tern nesting area. |
 |
On the fifth day of our voyage, guides took two groups of passengers out in Zodiacs. (A Zodiac is an inflatable rubber raft that is equipped with outboard motors, and can transport up to 12 people.) We were going to observe nesting Arctic terns in a fjord’s ice caves, approximately 644 km (400 mi) from the north pole. As the fog drifted in, our driver took us around the fjord where we spotted the most magnificent blue icebergs. I had a feeling this was going to be a great opportunity for me and my camera. On the Zodiac we had a lower vantage point—at actual sea level—which offered me better angles for viewing the icebergs. Our driver brought our Zodiac close to the iceberg and we began to circle it. As we moved around, the views and the experience got better and better. What made it so special? Those icebergs had never been seen before or since. The only people in the world to ever see them were the people on our zodiac excursion. None of us will ever forget seeing them. After about 20 minutes we went back to the ship; the experience was brief but memorable.
This content has been re-published with permission from SEED. Copyright © 2024 Schlumberger Excellence in Education Development (SEED), Inc.