Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
It was immediate. The deckhands of the National Geographic Sea Bird threw the lines from the dock at Barlett Cove at six this morning, and wildlife started appearing. Janene Driscoll, our Park Ranger on board for the day, mentioned that the sea otter population has been rising every season, and so it seemed; before leaving the bay we had seen at least a dozen of these creatures floating past us on their backs, paws floppy, held high out of the water.
Breakfast had barely begun when Gretchen stiffen her spine, lifted her binoculars (never to be found without), forgot about food, and said “there’s a moose over there!” Sure enough, a cow and calf were by the shore grazing. We either gobbled the remains of our breakfast or abandoned it entirely until later. As a result, we got fabulous looks at this enormous resident with her young of only a couple months.
It continued throughout the day; brown bears on the hillsides digging roots or foraging on berries; mountain goats were spotted on cliff-sides grazing on sparse grasses. One female with kid moved up a sheer rock face as we watched, a slight misstep caused our group an in-take of breath, but the kid was fine. In between, we warmed up in the lounge with hot drinks and listened to presentations by the ranger and staff. Young Explorers were given Navigation class in the bridge by our Chief Mate, Kendra. They were so good, that no untold zig-zagging was noticeable in our wake. They also studied for and received their Junior Ranger badges by the end of the day.
After lunch, bundled up in all our layers, we stepped out on deck to gaze and listen to Marjerie Glacier – immense, white, blue and jagged, bordered by areas with thin layers like chocolate-vanilla fudge swirls. Occasional chunks of ice fell from great heights and sounded massively. A significant section collapsed as we slid away to the kittiwake colony where we found both species of puffins – tufted and horned.
The grand finale occurred as we approached the body of a dead humpback whale washed up in March this year, when snow and ice still dominated the shores of Glacier Bay. It was discovered only in early May, and since then we have kept a close eye on it. We lucked out this afternoon when two brown bears were seen walking purposefully down the beach towards the carcass almost hidden by high tide. They proceeded to wade out in order to climb up, scratch, claw, chew, pull and tug on the remains. Several laps around the whale took place, as well as several spats over choice pieces. A pair, possibly in love. Truly a memorable sight. Forty tons of nutrients are taking several months to get recycled into the local environment through the alimentary tracts of ravens, crows, eagles, bears, wolves and who know who else we can’t see.
In the evening we stretched our legs on shore while taking deep breaths of air that travelled from snowy mountain tops, across glacier ridges and through forest spruce and hemlock to reach us.
Awesome
Large
Amazing
Sea Bird
Kittiwake
Alder tree
Sierra Harley, age 8 ½
