The above photo was captured by The Wild Images Team during our kayak trip through Kenai Fjords National Park to demonstrate how very blue ice can become. The above image is not edited in anyway, nor has the ice been dyed or covered by any foreign substance. What you are looking at is pure ice after it has been put under pressure. As most people know, water has a chemical composition of H2O, or two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom comprising each water molecule. Each of the two hydrogen atoms are bonded directly to the central oxygen atom. Water found at low temperatures in its solid form, ice, is no exception to this; the molecules are still comprised of two hydrogen atoms, each bonded directly to the central oxygen atom. The only difference with the solid form of water is that the molecules themselves are more strongly bonded to each other, which naturally occurs at lower temperatures, making the substance more rigidly solid and less splashy liquid. The bonds between the oxygen atom and the two hydrogen atoms are very good at absorbing red, orange, yellow, and green light to create vibrations and stretches in the bond. However, blue and violet light is not readily absorbed by either liquid water or ice, imparting a characteristic blue tint. This blue tint is not noticeable in small quantities of water. However, large quantities of water such as a deep lake or ocean will show the blue color as long as there is no chemical impurities or silty suspensions. But as you probably know, ice generally appears either clear or white even when seen in large quantities. This is due to the microscopic streaks and globules within ice that are actually tiny pockets of trapped air, representing impurities in the ice crystal structure. This defines the color of ice and snow to be white. But when ice is put under enormous pressure, such as under the millions of tons of weight found in a glacier, the small pockets of air are completely squeezed out, allowing the ice crystals to combine across the entire volume, producing the blue color characteristic of large glaciers such as Northwestern Glacier in the above image. The deep down blue ice is greatly exposed as the glacier drops quickly to the ocean waters below. To reach this location, The Wild Images Team had to bump our kayaks through the miles of ice seen in the bottom portion of the photo, where many seals can be seen to be perfectly at home in this frozen location. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images while in Alaska including the terminal moraines of a glacier winding down from the Chugach Mountains, the many splendid colors of the Sheep Mountain chromatic peaks in the Talkeetna Range, as a seal watches over the thick floating ice in Kenai Fjords National Park, as very fast moving seals cut tracks through the ice, as an entertaining seal strikes a pose on Northwestern Lagoon ice, the many miles of Northwestern Glacier reflecting over the turquoise waters, the awe inspiring rumble when a glacier calves of the cliffs in Kenai Fjords National Park, the moment when clouds crown a peak in Kenai Fjords National Park, the long summer days when fireweed enjoys the land of the midnight sun, and as a very playful Dall’s porpoise breaches the ocean surface in Aialik Bay, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Alaska document the moment we realized that no bananas on a boat is a very serious rule, as our kayak carrying water taxi Michael A launches from Miller’s Landing, the chaotic scene during a feeding frenzy floating island of seagulls, the majestic bald eagle scanning the coastline from a tree, the expansive view of a colorfully banded rock island reflection, the chaotic jumble of very noticeable blue ice of Northwest Glacier, the reflective view over briefly calm waters of the far northern Pacific Ocean under the Harding Icefield, when The Wild Images Team was photographed at the mouth of a glacier draining tunnel, the intimidating view from the snout of a very large and very steep glacier, and when our Coordinator Christina Orban keeps tradition by kissing the snout of this glacier. The Wild Images Team has also captured many photos during our journey up to Alaska through western and northern Canada including colorful canoes standing at the edge of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, a moment of isolation as a canoe crosses Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, the scene when a grizzly mother is grazing with two cubs, a practically newborn grizzly cub is shorter than the grass, near the Rancheria River where a massive blonde grizzly steps out of the brush, where the remote Liard River wanders through woods and mountains, an action shot when two bison calves are learning to spar, and another action shot as a large bull moose runs through the woods, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from our journey through Canada document the dark background storm clouds while the grain silos shine in the sunlight of Saskatchewan, the sheer terrain of Cascade Mountain towering over the Bow River valley, the velvet covered antlers of an elk as it passes by in Jasper National Park, the welcome sign declaring you are now entering the world famous Alaska Highway, the very iconic mile 0 signpost found at the start of the Alaska Highway, the desolate road of the Alaska Highway drops down into clouds of the Yukon Territory, the very remote road of the Alaska Highway rounds a mountain within clouds of the Yukon Territory, as the Alaska Highway heads straight towards a giant peak along Kluane Lake, the tall snow-capped peaks along the Alaska Highway west of Whitehorse, the shore lining patterned designs of mudflats from the missing A’ay Chu, as The Wild Images Team Photographer Jeremy Robinson hides in the Signpost Forest, and as The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina hides in the Signpost Forest.
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