Today we are cruising the prince Christian Sound. This body of water cuts through the southern tip of Greenland and provides a shortcut for ships to avoid the rough waters around the tip. This is a beautiful sound very much like a fjord with narrow channels and steep sides. There are many glaciers on the sides some have streams of melting into the water. Fortunately, here in the sound the waters are very quiet.
As we proceed into the sound, we are treated to a running commentary over the PA system. A couple of miscellaneous tidbits from this commentary follow:
- Prince Christian Sound is 36 km long, and 1300 ft. wide at it's narrowest point.
- The Greenland Ice sheet averages 1-1/2 miles thick, and covers 80% of the land area.
Greenland has been covered with glaciers for well over a hundred thousand years. These glaciers have carved numerous deep, narrow “U” shaped valleys that have filled with sea water as the glaciers retreated over the past ten thousand years. In the southern tip of Greenland, these fjords interconnect, forming a tortuous passage from the west side of Greenland to the East side. This is the origin of Prince Christian Sound. This morning we sailed through this passage.
Prince Christian Sound facts:
-waters depths are 250 -300 meters (about 900 feet)
-seal and birds inhabit the sound but it is too confining for whales
-alpine lakes are located at top of the peaks
-there are many waterfalls and glaciers
-at beginning peaks are 2200 feet and are taller within
-inside the sound is a sealing village of 150 people
-icebergs in the sound formed by precipitation at least a couple of centuries old
We passed this small village, which has about 130 persons living here, 20 children in school. It is truly in the middle of nowhere. When the ship was sited, many people were running along the rocky coast to wave. After we just passed the village three small boats came from the inlet behind the village. They each has two adults and several children. They were excited and continued to follow us for a while we waved at each other. The captain blew the ships horn in acknowledgement and it seemed to thrill the villagers. This must have been the most exciting thing for them is a while.
Prince Christian Sound Narrows to
1300 Feet at it’s Narrowest Point
The Bergy Bit at this Narrowest Point Provides
an Additional Challenge for Our Pilot
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