Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
“Hold on to your hot cocoa … the ship is going to roll!”
Several hundred curious sea otters began our day before breakfast had even been served. These social creatures floated along on their backs and ventured near the ship to pop their heads up and take a closer look at the camera and binocular holding humans. Soon after breakfast, we arrived at South Marble Island where male Steller sea lions had hauled up on to low-lying rocks. Large numbers of sea birds, including the spectacular tufted puffin, made a beautiful symphony of noise as we passed along the cliffs. It is difficult to imagine that all of this was under ice just 200 years ago.
Glacier Bay National Park is the second largest protected wilderness on the planet. At 3.3 million acres it is about the size of Connecticut. Native Tlingits once lived in the area until a glacier five miles wide and 300 feet high advanced at a rate ‘faster than a dog could run,’ taking over their land. Then the movement reversed and this area now holds the quickest rate of glacier retreat in recorded history. George Vancouver navigated these waters in 1794 in search of a spice route from China to England that he never found. Later in 1879, John Muir used Vancouver’s charts to study the area in hopes of proving theories he had about the effects of glaciers in Yosemite.
As we approached Sandy Cove we spotted our first black bear searching for food along the coast. We sighted several more black bears and even one brown bear, as we made our way towards the Margerie and the Grand Pacific Glaciers. These bears will eat fish and even barnacles for protein. At Gloomy Knob we witnessed dozens of mountain goats as they walked along the precarious rocky incline.
When we arrived at the two glaciers there are some obvious differences. Grand Pacific Glacier is two miles wide, 34 miles long, and dark in color due to the large number of other glaciers that feed into it and bring with them all the rock they have carved out along the way. Grand Pacific moves a couple of feet a day, if at all. Margerie Glacier is only a mile wide, 21 miles long, and is lighter in color but moves six feet a day on average. As Mike, the hotel manager, and Laura, the ships bartender, passed out hot chocolate for the wet and expectant viewers on the bow, Margerie gave a spectacular performance. A number of small calvings gave way to a massive piece of ice tumbling to the water and minutes later yet another huge piece fell. All held tight as the resulting swells overtook the ship.
In the evening we returned to Bartlett Cove for an short walk. There was a bit of commotion at the local lodge as a bear almost intersected with a small group of hikers. Thankfully, they noticed the bear just before paths crossed and it continued down the beach undisturbed and we returned to the ship with plenty to dream about.
Many thanks to Park Ranger Mary Lu for all of her information and enthusiasm throughout this amazing day.
“Hold on to your hot cocoa … the ship is going to roll!”
Several hundred curious sea otters began our day before breakfast had even been served. These social creatures floated along on their backs and ventured near the ship to pop their heads up and take a closer look at the camera and binocular holding humans. Soon after breakfast, we arrived at South Marble Island where male Steller sea lions had hauled up on to low-lying rocks. Large numbers of sea birds, including the spectacular tufted puffin, made a beautiful symphony of noise as we passed along the cliffs. It is difficult to imagine that all of this was under ice just 200 years ago.
Glacier Bay National Park is the second largest protected wilderness on the planet. At 3.3 million acres it is about the size of Connecticut. Native Tlingits once lived in the area until a glacier five miles wide and 300 feet high advanced at a rate ‘faster than a dog could run,’ taking over their land. Then the movement reversed and this area now holds the quickest rate of glacier retreat in recorded history. George Vancouver navigated these waters in 1794 in search of a spice route from China to England that he never found. Later in 1879, John Muir used Vancouver’s charts to study the area in hopes of proving theories he had about the effects of glaciers in Yosemite.
As we approached Sandy Cove we spotted our first black bear searching for food along the coast. We sighted several more black bears and even one brown bear, as we made our way towards the Margerie and the Grand Pacific Glaciers. These bears will eat fish and even barnacles for protein. At Gloomy Knob we witnessed dozens of mountain goats as they walked along the precarious rocky incline.
When we arrived at the two glaciers there are some obvious differences. Grand Pacific Glacier is two miles wide, 34 miles long, and dark in color due to the large number of other glaciers that feed into it and bring with them all the rock they have carved out along the way. Grand Pacific moves a couple of feet a day, if at all. Margerie Glacier is only a mile wide, 21 miles long, and is lighter in color but moves six feet a day on average. As Mike, the hotel manager, and Laura, the ships bartender, passed out hot chocolate for the wet and expectant viewers on the bow, Margerie gave a spectacular performance. A number of small calvings gave way to a massive piece of ice tumbling to the water and minutes later yet another huge piece fell. All held tight as the resulting swells overtook the ship.
In the evening we returned to Bartlett Cove for an short walk. There was a bit of commotion at the local lodge as a bear almost intersected with a small group of hikers. Thankfully, they noticed the bear just before paths crossed and it continued down the beach undisturbed and we returned to the ship with plenty to dream about.
Many thanks to Park Ranger Mary Lu for all of her information and enthusiasm throughout this amazing day.
