| As the great glaciers of the last Ice Age retreated from Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, a new and beautiful land was born. Islands were freed from the ice and the green water of the North Pacific flowed into the coves and glacier-carved fjords of the mountain-crowned coast. Protected by offshore islands and tempered by the Kuroshio (Japan Current), this vast maze of deep channels, quiet bays and lovely forested islands forms one of the most interesting and scenic routes - the Inside Passage. At over 1,000 miles long, the Inside Passage is home to basking seals, migrating whales, and immense glaciers that release great slabs of ice to crash into the sea. Sailing the Inside Passage on board the Mercury, an 866 foot Century-class cruise ship, is an excellent way to view the passage. |
