Glacier Bay
The day began at 6 a.m., our appointment with our National Park Service Ranger escort, Janene Driscoll, at Bartlett Cove. Just as Janene got settled in, we encountered our first wildlife of the day. We were greeted by sea otters near Beardslee Islands. With barely enough time for breakfast, the Marble Islands appeared, complete with lazing Steller sea lions, magnificent puffins, immature bald eagles, cormorants, marbled murrelets, and three types of gulls. These sightings would be a harbinger of things to come.
When we rounded Tlingit Point, beautiful white mountain goats appeared, grazing on the steep slopes. Many of them seemed content to simply bed down and watch our passage deeper into this glacier carved wilderness.
As we peaked into Tidal Inlet, curious to view its residents, the guests and crew of the National Geographic Sea Bird were rewarded with an introduction to a mother brown bear and two cubs. The mother was busy turning over rocks in the intertidal zone looking for a late breakfast, and the cubs followed her lead learning an important feeding lesson. After a long look we headed away with anticipation of our first encounter with a tidewater glacier.
Just after lunch we found ourselves staring at a wall of ice, two walls actually. The rock and debris iced face of the Grand Pacific Glacier and the other worldly brilliant blue face of the Margerie Glacier. As we stared in amazement, Margerie let loose a wall of ice. The cascading mass caused a wave that gently rocked our vessel over a ¼ mile away. Immediately the Arctic terns were alive with activity, searching the area for a meal as is their practice following glacier calving.
The afternoon included a lively presentation and discussion of indigenous rights, very appropriate here in Glacier Bay, the traditional home of the Hoonah Tlingit people. Our exploration ended with after dinner hikes in Bartlett Cove, followed by decadent blueberry cake.
The day began at 6 a.m., our appointment with our National Park Service Ranger escort, Janene Driscoll, at Bartlett Cove. Just as Janene got settled in, we encountered our first wildlife of the day. We were greeted by sea otters near Beardslee Islands. With barely enough time for breakfast, the Marble Islands appeared, complete with lazing Steller sea lions, magnificent puffins, immature bald eagles, cormorants, marbled murrelets, and three types of gulls. These sightings would be a harbinger of things to come.
When we rounded Tlingit Point, beautiful white mountain goats appeared, grazing on the steep slopes. Many of them seemed content to simply bed down and watch our passage deeper into this glacier carved wilderness.
As we peaked into Tidal Inlet, curious to view its residents, the guests and crew of the National Geographic Sea Bird were rewarded with an introduction to a mother brown bear and two cubs. The mother was busy turning over rocks in the intertidal zone looking for a late breakfast, and the cubs followed her lead learning an important feeding lesson. After a long look we headed away with anticipation of our first encounter with a tidewater glacier.
Just after lunch we found ourselves staring at a wall of ice, two walls actually. The rock and debris iced face of the Grand Pacific Glacier and the other worldly brilliant blue face of the Margerie Glacier. As we stared in amazement, Margerie let loose a wall of ice. The cascading mass caused a wave that gently rocked our vessel over a ¼ mile away. Immediately the Arctic terns were alive with activity, searching the area for a meal as is their practice following glacier calving.
The afternoon included a lively presentation and discussion of indigenous rights, very appropriate here in Glacier Bay, the traditional home of the Hoonah Tlingit people. Our exploration ended with after dinner hikes in Bartlett Cove, followed by decadent blueberry cake.
