Glacier Bay National Park
The morning rain was falling hard as we picked up Andrea Russell, our Glacier Bay National Park Ranger, on the dock in Gustavus. Fortunately the rainfall diminished rapidly as we headed up the Bay and only the typical “silver skies of Southeast” persisted by the time we got to our first wildlife viewing spot in the South Marble Islands. South Marble is where the birders get their due. Tufted puffins were a highlight, of course, but there were also kittiwakes, gulls, pigeon guillemots, cormorants, and common murres present in abundance. As we watched an eagle did a flyby over the island scaring up the whole bird assemblage in a cacophony of calls and fluttering wings.
The next stop was Gloomy Knob. Here we were looking for mountain goats. What we found were three bears that seemed to be engaged in some kind of dramatic chase scene. A small bear we called “dark chocolate” was being followed by “milk chocolate”, a larger bear. Both milk and dark chocolate were then followed by an even bigger bear up a mountainside and into the trees, so their complete agenda was never revealed to us. After the bears left, Lavon, our purser, discovered an unusual shape moving at the top of the Knob. After considerable discussion of the identity of this mystery animal identity among the natural history staff, a high-power spotting scope confirmed that this was indeed a hoary marmot. Finally we found the goats we had been seeking—a herd of five, including two nannys with kids.
Crossing over to the other side of the Bay, we visited the remnants of a humpback whale carcass that had been found. Also visiting was a brown bear looking for a quick, easy meal. We watched in fascination as he ripped off piece after piece of the rotting flesh, before staggering off into the woods full almost beyond capacity. Cameras installed by the National Park Service to document activities at the site show that a whole host of different animals have been coming by for their share of the bounty, including bears, wolves, coyotes, birds, and even a wolverine or two.
As we entered Johns Hopkins Inlet near the head of the Bay, the sun broke out between the clouds and the front deck dwellers started striping off their extra layers. We cruised down the inlet marveling at the scenic display of glaciers cutting into towering rock walls and bergs floating in front of the glaciers, sometimes bearing a load of harbor seals still hanging around after completing the pupping season. We spent about 45 minutes at the front of the glacier hoping for some kind of massive collapse, but were rewarded by only a few significant calvings. Still the brilliant sunshine and the intense blue of the glacial ice made the effort worthwhile.
We completed the day by hiking the forest service trail at Bartlett Cove and lounging in the Glacier Bay Lodge. All in all a fabulous day of wildlife and scenery. We look forward to even more of the same tomorrow.
