Alpenglow on high peaks was beautiful when we woke early this morning in Glacier Bay. We were 55 miles into the bay, and ahead of us was the Grand Pacific Glacier. We could see its course - graceful curves as it flows down to the sea. The face of Grand Pacific is now so covered in dark, rocky material that it hardly resembles ice. To its left is beautiful Margerie Glacier, which is mostly white. Margerie made loud popping sounds as tons of ice cracked and shifted. Chunks of ice fell, splashed to the water, and our ship rocked on the waves. As the sky brightened, jagged contours and details were easier to discern: tall spires, turquoise layers, and an enormous ice cave. Five harbor seals rested on a chunk of floating ice.
Glaciers have sculpted this landscape: they smoothed valleys into broad U shapes, and rounded the low mountains. We cruised past the very blue Lamplugh Glacier, and on our way into Johns Hopkins Inlet, stopped to watch two brown bears catching fish in a river. They splashed in the water, and one of them and ran off into vegetation carrying a fish in its mouth. As we rounded Jaw Point, Johns Hopkins Glacier came into view, and it was a stunning sight. Park ranger Rebekah and cultural interpreter Yolanda added to our understanding with informative presentations.
As we cruised past islands and hillsides, we scanned carefully for wildlife. In Queen Inlet, five river otters scampered down the intertidal zone, and swam along the shore. An eagle was apparently watching them - it appeared to grab a large fish that one of the otters had dropped from its mouth.
We watched mountain goats on the gray rocks of Gloomy Knob as a humpback whale surfaced nearby. Then we watched a brown bear sow with three seven month old cubs. They were very playful, and exceedingly fun to watch. When they reached a stream, all of them entered the water and swam, but the sow bit one by the nape of the neck and carried it back to shore. Was that one misbehaving? Mama bear went underwater to fish, and she emerged with her head covered in bright green algae. The cubs stood up and pushed at each other.
There was a fog bank to the south, and we cruised in and out of it. At South Marble Island, Steller sea lions rested on rocks, growled, huffed, and snorted. Kittiwakes, murres, and pelagic cormorants shared the small rocky island. Tufted puffins flew past us, their wings beating quickly just to stay airborne – diving birds are not graceful fliers. We docked at Bartlett Cove, and walked in forest that has reclaimed land where giant glaciers once stood.
