Entering Glacier Bay, the smell of the sea and the forest wafted to us with hints of cucumber, flowers, and an indescribable freshness. If it could be bottled, that scent would be a best-seller. Idling alongside South Marble Island, the growls and grunts of the Steller sea lions slid to our ears as the staccato screams of kittiwakes protested the presence of eagle predators. Tufted and horned puffins bobbed on the wavelets, surrounded by common murres and pigeon guillemots. Perched high in the conifers, great blue herons surveyed the scene. We could have spent all day at this fascinating emergent habitat, but that would be to deny the rest of the riches Glacier Bay has to offer.
We were able to see sights that are usually concealed from visitors, despite their close proximity and immensity: Mt. Fairweather and the other giants of the Fairweather Range loomed from the clouds. However, these geological beauties had stiff competition: an immense butterscotch-colored coastal brown bear foraged at the tide line and cottony mountain goats reclined in cool cliff crevices, while a humpback tossed its tail at the base of the rocks. Approaching the Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers, we could feel the immense temperature change instigated by these elevated ice masses. We gaped at the torn glacial towers and the burbling sediment-choked stream emerging from beneath the frigid behemoth (perhaps Large Marge would be a better name for this glacier?). We watched the falling of chunks of ice that looked like snowballs juxtaposed against the immensity of the entire glacier, but were likely as large as a grown adult. The true size of these calving fragments was attested to by the booms that resonated across the water. The dipping kittiwakes feeding in the disturbed sediment were taking advantage of the disturbed invertebrates (copepods, amphipods, and krill) that had been forced to the surface in the turbulence following a calving event. Luckily our meals do not rely on such episodic but unpredictable events!
We were able to see sights that are usually concealed from visitors, despite their close proximity and immensity: Mt. Fairweather and the other giants of the Fairweather Range loomed from the clouds. However, these geological beauties had stiff competition: an immense butterscotch-colored coastal brown bear foraged at the tide line and cottony mountain goats reclined in cool cliff crevices, while a humpback tossed its tail at the base of the rocks. Approaching the Margerie and Grand Pacific glaciers, we could feel the immense temperature change instigated by these elevated ice masses. We gaped at the torn glacial towers and the burbling sediment-choked stream emerging from beneath the frigid behemoth (perhaps Large Marge would be a better name for this glacier?). We watched the falling of chunks of ice that looked like snowballs juxtaposed against the immensity of the entire glacier, but were likely as large as a grown adult. The true size of these calving fragments was attested to by the booms that resonated across the water. The dipping kittiwakes feeding in the disturbed sediment were taking advantage of the disturbed invertebrates (copepods, amphipods, and krill) that had been forced to the surface in the turbulence following a calving event. Luckily our meals do not rely on such episodic but unpredictable events!
