Glacier Bay
Our Glacier Park Ranger, Amanda Evans, and our Tlingit Interpreter Alice Haldane arrived bright and early on the dock at Bartlett Cove so we got an early start on our day of adventure and learning in Glacier Bay National Park. After breakfast most of us gathered on the front deck of the National Geographic Sea Bird where we found high thin clouds with patches of blue hinting that we might be seeing a lot of sunshine as the day progressed. In the meantime we were heading for the South Marble Islands, a marine life “hotspot” in the bay. The first to appear were the birds, including numerous tufted puffins beating their wings frantically to stay in the air and resting up on the water for the next takeoff.
Coming closer to the islands we spotted a raft of Steller sea lions draped like big brown sausages over the rocks. The main island was populated mainly by birds nesting in the metamorphic marble rocks and uttering sounds ranging from a repetitive shriek to the distinctive “kittiwake” cry of the black-legged gull of the same name. Other birds identified included glaucous-winged gulls, common murres, pigeon guillemots and a bald eagle whose flight path created havoc among the kittiwakes. A very unusual sighting was a California sea lion, apparently shunned by the Stellers because he was all alone in the midst of the birds.
The next stop was Gloomy Knob where we found a brown bear and three cubs prowling the shore of Tidal Inlet searching for edible treats like blue mussels and crabs. The other animal in residence was a mountain goat browsing on the greenery in the meadows high above us on the cliff face. Further on at Russell Cut another brown bear was seen along the shore doing the same foraging routine as the Tidal Inlet bears. Just as an add-on there were also a couple of humpback whales as a distraction.
The feature attraction of the day was glacial ice! We saw the extreme contrast between the clean blue-white Margerie Glacier and the dirty brown, sediment-covered Grand Pacific. Ice calving is what we were looking for and we got it. Several large slabs and numerous smaller bits broke off the 250-foot face of the Margerie and hit the water with a thunderous roar that the Tlingits call “sumdum” (white thunder).
We then had a very informative presentation by Alice called “Our Tlingit Way of Life,” where we learned some of the basic elements of the Hoonah culture. This was followed by a brief but totally entertaining music video produced by Bella and starring a large cast of dancers including Zoe, Whitney, Katy, Erin, Devyn and Lily. While all this was going on in the lounge, the Junior Rangers were up on deck doing a glacial melt water experiment involving the famous “blubber glove.”
After a recap (featuring Carlos in full diving gear) and dinner, most of us headed for the Glacier Bay Lodge with an optional one-mile hike through the old growth forest that has grown here since the glacial ice began its retreat 200 years ago. The differences between this luxuriant rainforest and the recently de-glaciated terrain that we saw at the head of the bay exemplifies why Glacier Bay is a national treasure and why we have been so fortunate to travel here.
