Glacier Bay National Park
Superlatives normally abound whenever Glacier Bay is visited; and our expedition was no exception. Mother Nature welcomed us with open arms, inviting us to explore this most precious of places. The beauty here remains nearly beyond description.
Mountain peaks vanishing into the clouds and the snowcapped Fairweather Range summits in the distance beckoned National Geographic Sea Lion onward toward the Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers at the northernmost end of Tarr Inlet, the bay’s western arm. Glacier Bay National Park Ranger, Adrianna Cahill, was our interpretive guide for the day. She was particularly helpful explaining the dynamics of change in this seemingly ‘frozen’ eco-system. Park Ranger Helen Fields was also aboard to provide interpretation and activities specially designed for the many school-aged youngsters onboard.
We were still getting the ship up to cruising speed when we first encountered the bay’s gentle feeding giants – humpback whales. Dwarfed in size by comparison, a single Minke whale passed going in the direction of the open sea. Sea otters were also evident in the calm morning seas.
The Marble Islands brought the sights, sounds and smells of Steller’s (northern) sea lions and many different bird species, including tufted and horned puffins, glaucous-winged gulls, black-legged kittiwakes, black oyster catchers and cormorants. Further along the ever changing scenic vistas, bald eagles both perched and soaring overhead surveyed their territories and cast a watchful eye over the entire scene.
In the Russell Cut, we were treated to brown bears engaged in a ‘highly intense social activity’ designed to help propagate the species. While some parents were caught having to quickly come up with answers to the inevitable questions from their young children, we are glad to report that nature abounds and life persists. We’ll look for new cubs next spring!
Glaciers are why we came, and glaciers we got. First the ice was spotted in the bay, as bergs and bits floated by as a warning of the inevitable. Partially blue skies and warm temperatures greeted us as we anticipated calving from the frozen glacier face. The side-by-side glaciers of Margerie and Grand Pacific did not disappoint. The immense scale of everything here makes it difficult to comprehend the true enormity.
As we cruised back southward, a visit to the Lamplugh Glacier displayed an amazing torrent of melt water that had carved a gigantic cave at least five stories tall. It was a simply massive display of the force of ice, water and gravity. Further south along the western shore near Drake Island, a single black bear was observed foraging in the intertidal zone on the low tide.
We were treated to a moving closing by Ranger Cahill in recap, as she adopted the persona of a single rain drop voyaging through the millennia; retracing the changes that have occurred at Glacier Bay. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this had once again been a wonderful and significant day exploring nature!
