Glacier Bay National Park
Today we explored one of the gems of the national park system – Glacier Bay Park and Preserve. We spent all of the long Alaskan summer sunlight hours cruising through the park looking for wildlife on the shores and in the water, viewing the tremendous glaciers that so recently filled this entire bay, and exploring on shore near the lodge and visitors’ center. There were too many inspiring sights – too many fantastic discoveries around each bend – to list them all here. We saw numerous humpback whales feeding, some of them with a majestic glacier for a backdrop. Rafts of sea otters entertained us with their adorable antics. We watched in amazement as nimble-hoofed mountain goat nannies, billies and kids, still dressed in their shaggy, white winter coats, scrambled across the steep cliff face of Gloomy Knob. We identified birds in profusion – long lines of white-wing scoters on the water, amusing and colorful tufted puffins circling our ship and scores of black-legged kittiwakes nesting together for safety on South Marble Island.
At South Marble we also saw (and heard!) Steller sea lions cavorting in the water and jostling for space on the rocks. While this is a common haulout site for the species, we were pleased and surprised to find them in greater numbers than in years past. Even more exciting was the discovery of a female nursing a pup. It has long been assumed by researchers that this site was for bachelor males only – those not yet old enough and big enough to compete for mates as well as those beyond breeding age. Photos were taken of the pair and given to the Park Service ranger who spent the day with us. The photo will be passed on to the resident research team and perhaps the new information will help science to understand this fascinating animal.
Today we explored one of the gems of the national park system – Glacier Bay Park and Preserve. We spent all of the long Alaskan summer sunlight hours cruising through the park looking for wildlife on the shores and in the water, viewing the tremendous glaciers that so recently filled this entire bay, and exploring on shore near the lodge and visitors’ center. There were too many inspiring sights – too many fantastic discoveries around each bend – to list them all here. We saw numerous humpback whales feeding, some of them with a majestic glacier for a backdrop. Rafts of sea otters entertained us with their adorable antics. We watched in amazement as nimble-hoofed mountain goat nannies, billies and kids, still dressed in their shaggy, white winter coats, scrambled across the steep cliff face of Gloomy Knob. We identified birds in profusion – long lines of white-wing scoters on the water, amusing and colorful tufted puffins circling our ship and scores of black-legged kittiwakes nesting together for safety on South Marble Island.
At South Marble we also saw (and heard!) Steller sea lions cavorting in the water and jostling for space on the rocks. While this is a common haulout site for the species, we were pleased and surprised to find them in greater numbers than in years past. Even more exciting was the discovery of a female nursing a pup. It has long been assumed by researchers that this site was for bachelor males only – those not yet old enough and big enough to compete for mates as well as those beyond breeding age. Photos were taken of the pair and given to the Park Service ranger who spent the day with us. The photo will be passed on to the resident research team and perhaps the new information will help science to understand this fascinating animal.
