Glacier Bay National Park
The National Geographic Sea Lion entered Glacier Bay National Park just after midnight in order to take full advantage of our 24-hour permit. Last evening we embarked National Park Service Ranger/Naturalist Janene, who would spend the day with us to interpret the story of Glacier Bay.
After breakfast we approached the head of Tarr Inlet to observe the Grand Pacific and Margerie glaciers. Margerie was quite chatty today, with almost constant comments from all directions – mumbles, grumbles, exclamations and a few loud shouts. We were warned about motion on the ship from waves produced by the larger calvings. Black-legged kittiwakes and other gulls flew back and forth along the face of the glacier, picking up small fish and crustaceans stirred up by the falling ice.
After we turned away from Margerie, a brown (grizzly) bear was spotted along the shore. We diverted to watch the animal before it ambled into the shrubbery.
We then entered Johns Hopkins Inlet, passed the Lamplugh Glacier and plowed slowly through thick (but small) “growler” icebergs toward Jaw Point. The low clouds lifted to allow for some beautiful views up the inlet before we decided to turn. On the way out, we found five brown bears foraging in the intertidal zone! There was a sow with three older cubs from last year, and another bear a ways down the coast that decided to avoid a confrontation with the family and climbed up over the top of the ridge. The cubs, trailing behind mama, are now able to find much of their food on their own. We were amazed at the size of some of the rocks the mother turned over to look for goodies underneath.
We crossed the channel and before we reached Gloomy Knob, another mother bear with three small cubs-of-the-year were spotted on a gravelly spit. Here we could also do some bird watching. There were harlequin and mallard ducks, surf scoters, black oystercatchers, glaucous-winged gulls and a flock of surfbirds. A few mountain goats were spied on the calcareous ledges of Gloomy Knob. Beyond that, we found three wolves and a brown bear interacting around a salmon stream. Because there is plenty of food at this time of year, the two carnivores tolerate each other with minimal conflicts.
In North Sandy Cove we looped around Puffin Island and discovered a black bear in a back meadow munching on sedges. Black bears evolved in forested areas and tend to be more common in the lower bay. This brought our bear total to 12 for the day. Impressive!
South Marble Island is a Steller sea lion haul-out area and a seabird nesting place. At high tide, the younger sea lions are all packed together into a smaller space while the larger animals could rest in relative isolation on their favorite rock. The bark of one lone California sea lion contrasted with the roars and growls of the Stellers. With the help of binoculars and naturalists, we were delighted to find tufted puffins, common murres, and pigeon guillemots among other birds that nest and roost here.
Several of the young people on board worked hard throughout the day to receive their Junior Ranger badges from Janene at recap. The National Geographic Sea Lion docked at Bartlett Cove and after dinner people had a chance to stretch their legs on shore and visit the lodge for a refreshing end to our day in this spectacular park.
