Big chunks of ice have calved off South Sawyer glacier
Between 1990 and 2013, the South Sawyer glacier has retreated at 120m/year, and between 2013 and 2022, the retreat rate has been 50m/year. As the glacier calves, it creates numerous bergy bits and icebergs that the harbor seals seem to love. I watched the James Balog documentary, Chasing Ice, right before our zodiac trip and I didn’t want this glacier to calve anymore.
Harbor seals napping on the bergy bits. While we watched the seals, our naturalist Kim, told us the story of Stickeen, John Muir’s companion dog, on his 1880 explorations of southeast Alaska glaciers.
This ten thousand year old glacier is calving frequently. In our short time together, we heard several thunderous cracks and saw chunks of ice splash into the water. The calving events didn’t seem to bother the seals one bit. They simply kept napping.
Our galley crew came by with hot chocolate and an array of alcoholic top-up options.
Touching but not licking …
More ice …if one looked closely, one could see ice melting into rain shower under the large ice overhangs.
Locomotoring 
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