Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve
It was a gray on gray day with shades of dark green as the Sea Lion made her way up Sitakaday Narrows heading for South Marble Island. Our journey today, aboard the Sea Lion would cover a sixty-five mile trip up into the far reaches of Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve. Our first stop was a bird colony and haul-out area for Stellar Sea Lions. As the Sea Lion began a slow approach to South Marble Island we could all hear the cry of Kittiwake gulls, mixed with an occasional raven and bald eagle! We were thrown into an assault on our senses…the sights of gulls and their offspring…Tufted puffins nervously moving about on the water…birds on land, birds in the water… the mixture of sound and sight! As the Sea Lion continued her cruise heading slightly north up the east side of South Marble Island, we began to hear a strange roar. Young male Stellar Sea Lions were lounging together on a large outcropping. As the First Mate Rick maneuvered towards tile haul-out area the sea lions all lifted their heads looked slightly in our direction and then continued their roars and lounging! Soon it was time to continue our northerly travels heading for our next stop, approximately forty minutes north at Gloomy Knob. Along the way, we kept a continual watch for life on the beaches and in the water. On approach to Gloomy Knob binoculars were poised looking for mountain goats. It was a short wait, and the natural history staff found another very relaxed animal watching us as we watched him. A large creamy-colored mountain goat with a lovely set of horns was enjoying his morning nap!
Once again the Sea Lion moved off and started heading for two well-known tidal glaciers located at the end of Tarr Inlet in the northern reaches of Glacier Park.
Two hundred years ago the area the Sea Lion was cruising through was covered with a thick layer of ice. When explorer Capt. George Vancouver found Icy Strait in 1794, Glacier Bay was filled with ice! The glacier was more than 4,000 feet thick, up to 20 miles wide and extended back towards what is now Canada into the St. Elias Range mountains. This ice had already begun its retreat when John Muir arrived in 1879. He documented a retreat of forty-eight miles. By 1916 Grand Pacific Glacier was located at the head of Tarr Inlet, some sixty-five miles from the mouth of Glacier Bay. For the next three hours the Sea Lion made a slow northerly passage stopping for sleeping hears and foraging bears. At long last we found ourselves face to face with two large tidal water glaciers, Margerie Glacier to the right and Grand Pacific directly in front off the bow. We remained a quarter of a mile off of Magerie Glacier watching falling pieces of ice create the sound of white thunder that rang across the end of Tarr Inlet.
The day had been filled with a combination of spectacular weather, and a myriad of unbelievable sightings added together to create a visual feast. As the sun set behind the Fairweather mountain range the colors shifted and changed on the water from pick and orange to silver and deep blue…leaving us with our imaginations to ponder the gifts of this day.
It was a gray on gray day with shades of dark green as the Sea Lion made her way up Sitakaday Narrows heading for South Marble Island. Our journey today, aboard the Sea Lion would cover a sixty-five mile trip up into the far reaches of Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve. Our first stop was a bird colony and haul-out area for Stellar Sea Lions. As the Sea Lion began a slow approach to South Marble Island we could all hear the cry of Kittiwake gulls, mixed with an occasional raven and bald eagle! We were thrown into an assault on our senses…the sights of gulls and their offspring…Tufted puffins nervously moving about on the water…birds on land, birds in the water… the mixture of sound and sight! As the Sea Lion continued her cruise heading slightly north up the east side of South Marble Island, we began to hear a strange roar. Young male Stellar Sea Lions were lounging together on a large outcropping. As the First Mate Rick maneuvered towards tile haul-out area the sea lions all lifted their heads looked slightly in our direction and then continued their roars and lounging! Soon it was time to continue our northerly travels heading for our next stop, approximately forty minutes north at Gloomy Knob. Along the way, we kept a continual watch for life on the beaches and in the water. On approach to Gloomy Knob binoculars were poised looking for mountain goats. It was a short wait, and the natural history staff found another very relaxed animal watching us as we watched him. A large creamy-colored mountain goat with a lovely set of horns was enjoying his morning nap!
Once again the Sea Lion moved off and started heading for two well-known tidal glaciers located at the end of Tarr Inlet in the northern reaches of Glacier Park.
Two hundred years ago the area the Sea Lion was cruising through was covered with a thick layer of ice. When explorer Capt. George Vancouver found Icy Strait in 1794, Glacier Bay was filled with ice! The glacier was more than 4,000 feet thick, up to 20 miles wide and extended back towards what is now Canada into the St. Elias Range mountains. This ice had already begun its retreat when John Muir arrived in 1879. He documented a retreat of forty-eight miles. By 1916 Grand Pacific Glacier was located at the head of Tarr Inlet, some sixty-five miles from the mouth of Glacier Bay. For the next three hours the Sea Lion made a slow northerly passage stopping for sleeping hears and foraging bears. At long last we found ourselves face to face with two large tidal water glaciers, Margerie Glacier to the right and Grand Pacific directly in front off the bow. We remained a quarter of a mile off of Magerie Glacier watching falling pieces of ice create the sound of white thunder that rang across the end of Tarr Inlet.
The day had been filled with a combination of spectacular weather, and a myriad of unbelievable sightings added together to create a visual feast. As the sun set behind the Fairweather mountain range the colors shifted and changed on the water from pick and orange to silver and deep blue…leaving us with our imaginations to ponder the gifts of this day.
