Action at the Tunnel

Our Zodiac closed in on a section of the glacier face that contained a tunnel. This appeared to be a channel through which melt water had flowed through the glacier in considerable quantity. Nearly continual calving had enlarged the mouth of this tunnel to about 100' above the tidewater.

Suddenly ...

Michelle: "Oh My G... a shooter!"

Passenger: "What's a shooter?"

Michelle: "Calving underwater."

The darkest part of the tunnel was suddenly half obscured by white ice ...

It shot up higher and higher, spewing water ...

Then appeared to roll, exposing even more ice above water ...

This new iceberg, now apparently free of the glacier, really shot out of the water, dwarfing the dark part of the tunnel. Seawater poured from its newly exposed surfaces ...

It rolled over, seeking a more stable position ...

Now it rolled once more, exposing a layer of black ice. This must have been ice from the bottom of the glacier and had scoured chunks from the bedrock as it slid down from the mountains ...

Now a dark spectre in the water, the shooter moved off with the current to join the other icebergs in front of the glacier.

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