#photo by owen schatz

[uoclimatereport]

Today we were lucky enough to take an hour-long boat trip out on Prince William Sound and spend half of the day out there. Although we have already seen some incredible views and wildlife in and around Cordova, this was an experience that topped it all. Everywhere we looked were insane views of the most beautiful mountains that rose above the water. it was truly breathtaking. 

I have felt that on this trip, I have almost been so focused on capturing content that I forget to looked up from my camera screen to appreciate the beauty with my eyes. As I thought about that yesterday, I made it a goal today to take small breaks to look up and simply take in the view. 

Although I did a lot of video and photos, including the one above, I felt that I appreciated the surroundings more by taking these brief moments away from my camera. It gave me a perspective of where I was. The photo above was taken at a lagoon where I waited with Kris, Noah, and Josh with the hopes of a bear appearing somewhere along the coastline. Although we did not see a bear here, we spent a lot of time waiting and soaking in this insane view.

Owen Schatz - 7/18/2019

[uoclimatereport]

I was truly blown away after visiting the Sheridan Glacier. It was my first time seeing anything like it with my own eyes. One of the aspects I found so fascinating was the size and scale. I was able to see the whole lake while flying my drone and able to see how vast the glacier and lake was. The entire lake looked huge but each iceberg did not necessarily feel that big and looked like little islands floating around. But after flying my drone I had the chance to kayak around and see the glaciers close up and touch them. That is when my perspective change and I was able to understand how massive these icebergs really are. Just to kayak out and paddle around one of them took almost an hour. We were able to examine it from all angles and see the caves and different shapes and lines that have formed on it. This macro to micro comparison is what really gave me an idea of the scale of these glaciers. Above is a still frame from a video taken on my drone. you can see two small black lines in the water which are kayaks and in front of them is the iceberg we went around. In this photo, you can really get a sense for the scale of the glacier and icebergs.

Owen Schatz - 7/14/19