After transiting through a starlit night in Glacier Bay National Park, explorers abroad the National Geographic Sea Lion awoke at the foot of Margerie Glacier. Silence permeated the air as crimson sunlight dawned on Mt. Fairweather, rising from the sea 15,300 feet. The explorers and crew stood quietly for over ten minutes allowing the essence of wilderness to relax into the day and their persona. Ever so quietly, National Parks Service Ranger Cristi added a dimension of time to the days beginning after sharing a brief perspective of time from the Pleistocene forward into the current recession of glaciers here at the nation’s greatest tribute to glacier time. Comparing historic photos of glacier positions and current observations of Margerie and Lamplugh Glacier made evident the rapid retreat of these fingers of the Brady Icefield.
When traversing the Glacier Bay fjord, two bachelor orcas were seen cruising the open waters, likely in search of some tasty morsel, though no such acquisition was observed. Crawling through Russell Island channel, we searched for bear, moose, wolf and other possible wildlife sightings, yet none was observed. Gliding past Gloomy Knob, we searched for mountain goat and were relieved to find two well camouflaged critters near the crest of the knob. A brief incursion into Tidal Inlet revealed a beautiful, rarely visited fjord, but no wildlife. Cruising south to the Marble Islands, the “blows” of a humpback whale were observed; however, due to National Parks Service regulations, we did not approach these whales as we may have if they were in Chatham Strait. Arriving at South Marble Island, we were greeted by sea lions “hauled out” and barking at each other, while younger sea lions frolicking in the ocean. Tufted puffins, murres, cormorants, guillemots, kittiwakes, marbled murrelets and other feathered friends danced about the island and the waters adjacent thereto. Our exploration within Glacier Bay ended with a wonderful presentation by Frank, our Tlingit cultural specialist who shared his language and ancestral and current culture. A brisk walk along the Glacier Bay visitor trail allowed us to get the blood circulating prior to another delicious meal.
