Early this morning, the National Geographic Sea Lion set off for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The glaciers in the bay have retreated 60 miles in the last 200 years leaving behind a beautiful landscape that has been designated as a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. We picked up two park rangers, Kira Pontius and Linda Leiberman, and eagerly anticipated their natural history stories and wildlife narrations throughout the day.
Shortly after breakfast, we passed South Marble Islands and found an abundance of wildlife. What a nice way to start the day! We could hear the calls of the Steller sea lions as we got closer to the shore and multiple bird species circled above. Bird watchers were happy to see pigeon guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, and mating tufted puffins. As we came into view of Gloomy Knob, the low hanging mist and fog certainly made for a gloomy and eerie backdrop. After only a few minutes of searching, three mountain goats were spotted climbing up the vertical cliff face. While intently watching the mountain goats, we noticed something in pursuit – a mama bear with three cubs! We watched the cubs clumsily stumble after their mother until they disappeared into the fog. Our wonderful morning of wildlife sightings was topped off with sea otters, horned puffins, and, of course, many bald eagles.
From the dining room windows at lunch we could see icebergs becoming more abundant, a sign we were nearing Johns Hopkins Glacier. Once we arrived, everyone huddled toward the bow to admire the beauty. The fog cleared, offering 360 degrees of stunning scenery and we even saw harbor seals among the icebergs. The air was peaceful and still. The only disturbance was the loud crashing of the glacier calving. What an amazing thing to see!
As the National Geographic Sea Lion sailed out of Glacier Bay, we continued to look for wildlife and reminisced about all the incredible things we had seen in just one short day. Our day came to an end with leisurely strolls ashore in Bartlett Cove. What adventures will tomorrow offer?
