Glacier Bay, Southeast Alaska
The Sea Bird sailed into Glacier Bay before breakfast, when we picked up national park ranger Rick Becker and then preceded north up the bay on a cloudy, misty day. After breakfast, we stopped at the small Marble Islands, where we saw several types of sea birds. We observed glaucous winged gulls, pigeon guillemots, and common murres, but the real attractions were the horned and tufted puffins flying and floating all around us. The Sea Bird cruised north up the bay, where we stopped in Tidal Inlet to look at slide mountain. We continued north to Gloomy Knob, where we spotted several mountain goats. Two of them were walking high up on the steep, glacially striated cliffs. The ship slowed down as we cruised between Russell Island and the mainland so we could look for wildlife. Then we spotted four brown bears: a mother and her three cubs! These bears are the large coastal cousin of the grizzly bear. We observed them walking, running, eating, and even turning over a stick to look for insects.
We spent the afternoon in the spectacular glacially-carved Johns Hopkins Inlet. There were thousands of icebergs, several of which had harbor seals on them. The steep rock walls of the fjord were cut by several glacially carved U-shaped valleys and striations. We could see nine glaciers of all sorts and shapes. The glacier at the end of the fjord had a face twenty five stories high that was striped due to the dark medial moraines. We saw several calvings occur; huge pieces of ice break off the glacier and fall into the water with a thunder-like roar. After cruising past the beautiful blue Lamplugh glacier, the ship turned south. The Sea BirdM docked at the visitor center at Bartlett Cove just after dinner. We finally disembarked to do a fast-paced nature walk along the forest trail and visit the Glacier Bay Park headquarters.
The Sea Bird sailed into Glacier Bay before breakfast, when we picked up national park ranger Rick Becker and then preceded north up the bay on a cloudy, misty day. After breakfast, we stopped at the small Marble Islands, where we saw several types of sea birds. We observed glaucous winged gulls, pigeon guillemots, and common murres, but the real attractions were the horned and tufted puffins flying and floating all around us. The Sea Bird cruised north up the bay, where we stopped in Tidal Inlet to look at slide mountain. We continued north to Gloomy Knob, where we spotted several mountain goats. Two of them were walking high up on the steep, glacially striated cliffs. The ship slowed down as we cruised between Russell Island and the mainland so we could look for wildlife. Then we spotted four brown bears: a mother and her three cubs! These bears are the large coastal cousin of the grizzly bear. We observed them walking, running, eating, and even turning over a stick to look for insects.
We spent the afternoon in the spectacular glacially-carved Johns Hopkins Inlet. There were thousands of icebergs, several of which had harbor seals on them. The steep rock walls of the fjord were cut by several glacially carved U-shaped valleys and striations. We could see nine glaciers of all sorts and shapes. The glacier at the end of the fjord had a face twenty five stories high that was striped due to the dark medial moraines. We saw several calvings occur; huge pieces of ice break off the glacier and fall into the water with a thunder-like roar. After cruising past the beautiful blue Lamplugh glacier, the ship turned south. The Sea BirdM docked at the visitor center at Bartlett Cove just after dinner. We finally disembarked to do a fast-paced nature walk along the forest trail and visit the Glacier Bay Park headquarters.
