:08:03
Massive snowfalls
compress glacial ice
:08:06
so dense in some places
:08:07
only a single color
of the spectrum is reflected...
:08:13
an ethereal blue...
:08:15
chilling
and strangely beautiful.
:08:22
Where the frozen rivers end
:08:24
icebergs are born
in a spectacle so mighty
:08:28
native tribes call it
"While Thunder"
:08:48
Some blocks are the size
of 30-story buildings.
:09:21
It would seem a place
too hostile for living things
:09:27
but each year, after a winter
that can last nine months
:09:31
Alaska erupts with life.
:09:37
Hundreds of thousands of birds
:09:39
stream here
from as far away as Antarctica
:09:42
to breed in Alaska's
protected cliffs and coves
:09:46
and to feed on it's rich seas.
:09:52
For one brief season
of abundance
:09:55
life flourishes.
:09:59
lce-falls turn to waterfalls.