There are times when nature’s forces overwhelm and leave one viscerally stunned, struggling to fully comprehend what just occurred. Watching a glacier calve huge blocks of ice into the sea is not usually in that category. It is exciting, to be sure, but not terrifying.

On the very rare occasion, though, that one happens to be half a kilometer directly in front of a towering glacier that suddenly erupts with a deafening roar and collapses in a succession of thunderclaps in all directions, climaxing with the entire height of one section keeling forward in an explosion of spinning ice projectiles and airborne ocean, the experience definitely qualifies as both heart-thumping-thrilling and terrifying… especially when when one realizes that there is a tsunami wave headed for your boat after four endless minutes of domino-like calving.

It is perhaps understandable if snapping pictures takes a back seat to thoughts of survival at times like these, but it is the memory of a lifetime and worth sharing with others as a reminder of our smallness as well as our role in global warming and the steady disappearance of magnificent, awe-inspiring glaciers worldwide.

CLICK PHOTO FOR TIME-LAPSE VIDEO OF CALVING GLACIER:

Huge section of glacier crashes into ocean in Svalbard. © Randall Hyman