Glacier Bay National Park
At six o’clock on the dot, our Glacier Bay National Park ranger, Kevin Richards, was boarding the Sea Bird at Bartlett Cove. We soon threw the lines and were on our way north into the great wilderness of the bay. Seemingly in welcome, an intense fragment of rainbow glowed over Geike Inlet to the west as we emerged into the main channel.
Before even breakfast could be served we were on the deck watching a huge raft of sea otters, possibly hundreds, floating on their backs with head and feet in the air where they could stay a tad warmer. In just over a decade, a few individuals were reintroduced and the numbers have now increased beyond anyone’s dreams.
Next stop was South Marble Island where Steller sea lions, tufted puffins, kittiwakes, marbled murrelets and common murres were the stars of the show. Soon enough a black bear was seen grazing as the ship passed quietly through the narrow waterway in Sandy Cove.
And so the day evolved, with further bear sightings, both black and brown. Mountain goats were close to sea level – an occurrence that only happens early in the season when the food supply isn’t ready at the preferred higher elevations. Tiny kids of only a couple weeks old nimbly followed their mothers along what seemed like precarious ledges.
At our northernmost point we watched as Marjorie Glacier threw down pinnacles of ice, exposing yet more blue ice to match the patches of blue peeking through the clouds. One of the most impressive sights for me personally, was seeing the snow at sea level. This past winter deposited more snow than most Southeasterners have seen in many years. For me this was the first time I had seen Glacier Bay so white, literally shining in the sun. The bay is starting to wake up from its winter slumber.
At six o’clock on the dot, our Glacier Bay National Park ranger, Kevin Richards, was boarding the Sea Bird at Bartlett Cove. We soon threw the lines and were on our way north into the great wilderness of the bay. Seemingly in welcome, an intense fragment of rainbow glowed over Geike Inlet to the west as we emerged into the main channel.
Before even breakfast could be served we were on the deck watching a huge raft of sea otters, possibly hundreds, floating on their backs with head and feet in the air where they could stay a tad warmer. In just over a decade, a few individuals were reintroduced and the numbers have now increased beyond anyone’s dreams.
Next stop was South Marble Island where Steller sea lions, tufted puffins, kittiwakes, marbled murrelets and common murres were the stars of the show. Soon enough a black bear was seen grazing as the ship passed quietly through the narrow waterway in Sandy Cove.
And so the day evolved, with further bear sightings, both black and brown. Mountain goats were close to sea level – an occurrence that only happens early in the season when the food supply isn’t ready at the preferred higher elevations. Tiny kids of only a couple weeks old nimbly followed their mothers along what seemed like precarious ledges.
At our northernmost point we watched as Marjorie Glacier threw down pinnacles of ice, exposing yet more blue ice to match the patches of blue peeking through the clouds. One of the most impressive sights for me personally, was seeing the snow at sea level. This past winter deposited more snow than most Southeasterners have seen in many years. For me this was the first time I had seen Glacier Bay so white, literally shining in the sun. The bay is starting to wake up from its winter slumber.
