Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

We began our northbound passage into this great fjord under a chilly and gray autumnal sky. Before long beautiful light rays streamed through dark clouds, bits of distant snow-capped mountains were revealed in sunlit blue patches of sky, and an amazing day of unexpected and exceptional events began to unfold. One of the wonders of these trips is that special things happen every day, but we can never predict precisely what they might be—we just attempt to take full advantage of the opportunities that are presented. Everyone knew we’d visit a glacier or two, right? After all, we were in Glacier Bay National Park… but we didn’t know we’d see and hear a remarkable calving event that lasted more than two hours and stunned and delighted everyone who witnessed it. Not one of us on board the National Geographic Sea Bird has seen a glacier calving to rival today’s performance of Johns Hopkins Glacier dropping huge pieces of ice and rock over and over across its mile-wide face.

Out on the ice surrounding the ship were hundreds of harbor seals, and several curious animals popped up near us. The seals have their pups on the ice in May far away from predators like killer whales and have recently weaned this year’s young. Their large eyes that we find so attractive enable them to hunt in the dim depths of the sediment-filled waters near the glaciers. These pinnipeds or ‘feather-footed’ animals are related to the Stellar or Northern sea lions we saw hauled out on the rocks near South Marble Island.

On Gloomy Knob, an interesting mottled gray outcropping of dolomite, a moving white dot morphed into a very white and photogenic mountain goat. He/she moved lower and lower and closer to the bow of the boat; eating bites of green plants and appearing to have a look at us. But the final sighting—killer whales, was just ahead. Observing these matriarchal animals, the largest of the dolphin family is always thrilling, and a glorious finale to a memorable day.