Early this morning, while the sun was creeping above the drastic walls of the glacial fjord, National Geographic Quest cruised into LeConte Bay, where we explored the beautiful icebergs meandering eight miles down from the face of the glacier. The morning light illuminated these bergy bits with their brilliance, showing their intricate patterns of melting and underwater erosion. We witnessed these massive icebergs breaking and calving, twisting and rolling as they find their new position of equilibrium.
In the afternoon, after a bounty of a brunch, we pulled into Petersburg, a town that revolves around fishing. With slightly more than 3,000 inhabitants, those here show close ties to the ocean – being in the fishing trade themselves or having family in the trade. We experience the full story of Petersburg the Le Conte glacial ice and the fishing town. The location of Petersburg was chosen due to its proximity to the glacier, where Norwegian fisherman Peter Bushman and his company could harvest ice from this active tidewater glacier to preserve the fish for their transit down the west coast. The Norwegian heritage is still strong, and it is fun to walk around this historical fishing town.
