We have come to Glacier Bay based on Lauren’s good dating
fortune (thanks, OKCupid). Greg*(names have
been changed to protect privacy) loves Alaska and has a great friend Brett*(
because he looks like Cindy’s cousin Brett) who is the General Manager of this
cool lodge. (Btw, happy 100 birthday to
our National Parks!) Greg used to work with Brett years ago in Denali and while
Lauren has only been on a handful of dates with Greg, he provided essential
advice for AK travel. Also, he contacted
Brett to show us a good welcome. Brett
encouraged us to take a boat tour deep into Glacier Bay to see some of the most
incredible areas of the National Park. NPS Glacier Bay Boat Tour
On our boat of approximately 60 people, we are led into the
remote waters by Miscka (spelling unconfirmed but actual name, feel free to
contact Cindy), a super hot captain and Ranger Dan.
Lauren did the boat a favor and spotted 3 Humpback whales
mere minutes into the voyage (this was shortly after a false seal not whale
alarm). Our first stop was South Marble
Island, a home to sea lions, tufted puffin and pigeon guillemot (resembling
black bowling pins according to Ranger Dan).
Also found here are the scoter (long o).
Cindy, new to the birding world, saw this animal and yelled out
excitedly “Scroater!!”. Mmhmm. This brought immediate laughs from the upper
deck with a response of “hey, is this still a “g” rated boat?”
Non-bird Wildlife spotted (all numbers are approximate):
Humpback whales (10), closest proximity to boat 100 ft
Sea lions (500+) densest fur of any animal 100x more than a
house cat (on South Marble Island (covered by glacier in 1845))
Harbor Porpoise (15)
Sea Otter (25)
Mountain Goat (Nanny 1, kid 2) located on Gloomy Knob, elev
1331ft.
Coastal Brown Bear (1 mama, 2 cubs) similar to a Grizzly but
bigger as eats better.
Wolf (2, 1 mangy)
Kayakers picked up (2) from Scidmore Bay covered by glacier
in 1892
Kayakers not picked up (15 boats)
Cruise ships (6)
A shout out to Junior Ranger Angelo who earned his badge
following his wise words spoken during his acceptance speech. “Remember to
throw away your trash in the right can and turn off lights so you don’t waste
energy and melt the glaciers.” We’re
pretty certain his inspiration was from watching the long goateed deck hand,
Scott, sort through the trash literally half of the 8 hour voyage. Good looking out kid!
Glaciers visited (in order):
Lamplugh (advancing)
Margerie (stable)
Grand Pacific (retreating, also was the original glacier
that created the bay over the last 250 years)
Johns Hopkins (retreating) named after the university, most
photographed in the world
Gillman, Hoonah and Topeka
Reid (goateed deck hands favorite)
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