It's spring in Alaska, and filmmaker Victor Bee broke out his Phantom drone, equipped with a GoPro, to capture breakup, when the Kuskokwim River ice erodes and floats downstream and frozen ocean ice finally melts.
Typically, breakup takes weeks to unfold, with the banks of rivers and creeks flooding. Mud covers most street surfaces. This breathtaking view shows breakup near the mouth of the 700-mile Kuskokwim River as tons of melting ice chunks move down the ninth-longest river in the United States towards Kuskokwim Bay.
The shift in the environment is a hopeful one for Bethel residents. Green buds will start popping out of the ground soon, and summer is just around the corner. What was once an ice-covered highway will soon yield salmon.