Ariel's Blog Post

I spent a long time trying to choose the most thrilling, magical, and enchanting encounter I’ve had with the non-human world. I finally decided upon this encounter:

A few years ago, my family decided to go on a cruise to Alaska. Our trip was almost at its close, and my family was excited to have a full day at sea so we could finally sleep in late. However, the ship’s captain came over the loudspeaker at 5 AM, saying that we would enter Tracy Arm Fjord in about an hour. He was alerting us that there is a beautiful glacier there, and that it would be worth all crowding onto the ship’s deck to see it.

Reluctantly, I got dressed and went outside with my family. As we were a large cruise ship, we made a nerve-wracking trip between two mountains. Suddenly, we were in a fairly wide fjord. In front of us was a small island. A naturalist came over the loudspeaker to explain that a man lives on this island, secluded from the rest of the world. He tries to live very simply, making his way into town only twice a year to buy some needed goods. He spends the rest of his time attempting to live in a sustainable manner on this small island.

We continued on, and approached a massive glacier. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. A photograph (although below) truly does not do it justice. The naturalist again came on the loudspeaker to discuss the glacier with us. The land mass on which the glacier was located was a dark brown. However, closer to the glacier, this land mass turned light brown. The naturalist explained that this color difference was a result of the fact that the glacier is melting.

This naturally leads me into a discussion of whether or not we should concern ourselves with “saving nature.” I chose this example in part because it depicts two ends of the spectrum: this secluded, beautiful fjord and our massive cruise ship (complete with an iceberg-crusher built into its bow). This made me question whether or not it is best to be a preservationist. One the one hand, would I care about climate change if I hadn’t seen this glacier? To a certain extent, yes. On the other hand, I would not have a full appreciation of the issue. So I suppose my answer is yes. Of course I want to save nature. On the other hand, I question what exactly that means, and how we can actually empower individuals to do that in a logical manner— or at least without a massive iceberg crusher.