Juneau is visited by many cruise ships throughout the year. At any one time up to four ships can be found docked and moored in the channel. What many people probably don’t realize is how polluting the ships truly are. A pall of blue smoke hangs over downtown Juneau and drifts down the channel sent up from the exhaust stacks of the ships. Even at dock they idle their engines sending up clouds of oily haze. Here are a couple of photos of the boats and a few of the smoke they produce. And people wonder why the glaciers around Juneau are retreating!
A ship moored in the channel. They use the life boats to shuttle passengers back and forth to land.
Two ships at two different docks.
A small private yacht (say 100 feet…) docked in downtown Juneau.
See the blue haze above the ships? That’s smoke from their stacks.
More blue haze. This is looking from Douglas Island.
A ship heading down the channel after a stay at Juneau.
Blue smoke over downtown Juneau pushing up against Mount Juneau.
Emily with a boat in the background.
All the smoke rising from the ships at sunset.