Glacier Bay National Park
It was perfectly calm as the National Geographic Sea Bird explored Glacier Bay this morning. Our first stop was South Marble Island, where we stopped to look at the wildlife. There were dozens of Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks, but our main focus was on the sea birds. There were gulls, kittiwakes, cormorants, oystercatchers, and tufted puffins sitting in the water and flying all around us.
After the National Park ranger Janene Driscoll introduced the park to us, we went into Tidal Inlet to see Slide Mountain, where a landslide is bound to occur any day. Much to our surprise, we found a mother and young mountain goat down by the water. We also saw others high on the mountain where they are usually found. As we went by Gloomy Knob, we saw more sea birds and goats.
After lunch, we entered Johns Hopkins inlet, which is one of the most spectacular geologic places on earth. We saw several hanging glaciers high on the awesome rock mountains, formed by a collision of tectonic plates millions of years ago. The ship maneuvered between thousands of ice- bergs of every size. However, it was the two tidewater glaciers at the end of the fjord that commanded our attention. We got up close to the Johns Hopkins and Gilman glaciers to see their huge blue glacier faces and deep crevasses. There was at least one calving, which is when a huge piece of ice falls off the glacier into the water with a big splash.
As the ship went up the 65-mile length of Glacier Bay, we saw two more tidewater glaciers, multiple ice-coated mountains, and great reflections in the calm water of the bay. The kids on board participated in a hands-on demonstration of glacier formation and movement using ice cream and crushed cookies. They even got to eat it afterwards!
After dinner, we all went on shore at the National Park Visitor Center at Bartlett Cove. Most of us went on a walk through the spruce forest on the terminal moraine, where we saw ponds that had yellow pond lilies. Many of us walked along the shore past several types of wildflowers, such as red paintbrush, chocolate lily, and huge cow parsnips. We returned to the ship as night fell on Glacier Bay.
It was perfectly calm as the National Geographic Sea Bird explored Glacier Bay this morning. Our first stop was South Marble Island, where we stopped to look at the wildlife. There were dozens of Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks, but our main focus was on the sea birds. There were gulls, kittiwakes, cormorants, oystercatchers, and tufted puffins sitting in the water and flying all around us.
After the National Park ranger Janene Driscoll introduced the park to us, we went into Tidal Inlet to see Slide Mountain, where a landslide is bound to occur any day. Much to our surprise, we found a mother and young mountain goat down by the water. We also saw others high on the mountain where they are usually found. As we went by Gloomy Knob, we saw more sea birds and goats.
After lunch, we entered Johns Hopkins inlet, which is one of the most spectacular geologic places on earth. We saw several hanging glaciers high on the awesome rock mountains, formed by a collision of tectonic plates millions of years ago. The ship maneuvered between thousands of ice- bergs of every size. However, it was the two tidewater glaciers at the end of the fjord that commanded our attention. We got up close to the Johns Hopkins and Gilman glaciers to see their huge blue glacier faces and deep crevasses. There was at least one calving, which is when a huge piece of ice falls off the glacier into the water with a big splash.
As the ship went up the 65-mile length of Glacier Bay, we saw two more tidewater glaciers, multiple ice-coated mountains, and great reflections in the calm water of the bay. The kids on board participated in a hands-on demonstration of glacier formation and movement using ice cream and crushed cookies. They even got to eat it afterwards!
After dinner, we all went on shore at the National Park Visitor Center at Bartlett Cove. Most of us went on a walk through the spruce forest on the terminal moraine, where we saw ponds that had yellow pond lilies. Many of us walked along the shore past several types of wildflowers, such as red paintbrush, chocolate lily, and huge cow parsnips. We returned to the ship as night fell on Glacier Bay.
