DIANE BURKO

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GLACIER EQI SERMIA: A VISUAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE

At around 7:30 on Wednesday morning August 6 we boarded a boat with about 20 other passengers to journey from Disko Bay up the Atasund Sound to Glacier Eqi Sermia. We began our five hour ride with heavy fog slowly introducing icebergs through the mist. as well as rainbows…

Finally the the atmosphere cleared and icebergs surrounded us in all their individual splendor.

Sometime after lunch we parked at a safe distance from the front of our destination glacier. It measured across about 2.8 kilometers. I was told that just one year ago it had measured 4 kilometer (2.4 miles)!

This 400 meter high wall of ice performed for over two hours mesmerizing us with its thunderous sounds belching from all directions along its horizontal front as it calved sporadically spilling mountains of ice and snow cascading down into the sea... Cameras were snapping incessantly.

Look closely to see these three instances of calving: