Dramatic footage shows huge chunk of glacier dropping into the sea and triggering a wave in Alaska
- The moment was captured from a day cruise boat out of Seward, Alaska
- Portion of glacier to drop into the sea estimated to be as tall as a 5 story building
- The boat crew said it was a unique experience to witness a large glacier calving
Dramatic footage shows a huge chunk of glacier dropping into the sea and triggering a wave in Alaska.
The moment was captured from a day cruise boat out of Seward on June 13.
The chunk fell from the Aialik Glacier which is the largest glacier in Aialik Bay, located in Kenai Fjords National Park.
The chunk fell from the Aialik Glacier which is the largest glacier in Aialik Bay, located in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
The glacier is fairly stable but calves most actively in May and June.
At the start of the footage, small amounts of snow can be seen trickling down into the sea as passengers on the cruise boat watch.
Suddenly an area towards the top of the glacier starts to cave in.
‘Here we go, here we go,’ a man on the boat shouts.
A larger area then starts to crumble which is followed by shouts of excitement.
The huge weight of ice plunges into the sea as the boat passengers clap and cheer.
A wave starts to form in the water which gathers momentum and heads towards the boat before the footage stops.
An area starts to fall from the top of the glacier followed by a larger amount
The boat crew said it was a unique experience for passengers to witness the large calving and estimated the portion that fell into the sea was as tall as a 5 story building.
Alaska has experienced an early summer this year, the result of global warming.
Rising temperatures triggered a landslide on Yudikench Peak, a mountain near Anchorage in early May.
Temperatures reached 69 degrees Fahrenheit near the mountain in May that sparked a ‘wedge failure’ – a type of land slide that occurs along multiple planes.
The collapse sent debris barreling down the mountain side and filled the area with dust.
NASA shared an image of the landslide as seen from space, which highlights a once snow-covered area and is now riddled with debris.
The crew on the boat witnessing the event estimated the portion that fell into the sea was as tall as a 5 story building
University of Sheffield landslide watcher Dave Petley shared in a blog post: ‘It is well established that Alaska sees large landslides in the spring, and that their increasing size and frequency is driven by global heating.’
Residents of Anchorage look forward to the warm weather, as it brings green leaves and a break from the frigid winter temperatures.
However, an early summer crept in the populous city and is thawing ‘soils in ways that encourage landslides,’ NASA shared in a statement.
A public letter has been signed by scientists warning that another mountain slope in Alaska is unstable, due to the melting Barry Arm glacier that is holding it up and could trigger a catastrophic tsunami within the next year and ‘likely within 20 years.’