We woke in Icy Strait, a few miles away from the mouth of Glacier Bay National Park. Today was a day for abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery. Before entering the park we saw humpback whales, a few sea otters, our first tufted puffins of the trip, harbor porpoise, and a flock of perhaps 400 fork-tailed storm petrels, normally a pelagic species. Within the park we quickly sighted more sea otters and a small group of killer whales. One of our first stops was South Marble Island, a seabird colony, and a haul-out site for Steller sea lions. Here we saw and heard hundreds of breeding black-legged kittiwakes and glacous-winged gulls, as well as pigeon guillemots, black oystercatchers, common murres, bald eagles, and both tufted and horned puffins, sitting on the water and flying by the ship. We could also hear the deep growling sounds produced by well over a hundred Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks. This site is not a sea lion breeding colony, but rather is an area used primarily by males for resting. Further up the bay we observed several groups of mountain goats, both the marbled and less common Kittlitz's murrelets, more humpback whales, and a grizzly bear, not to mention the spectacular tide-water glaciers and rugged mountain peaks.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 06 Jun 2001
From the Sea Bird in Alaska, 6/6/2001, National Geographic Sea Bird
- Aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird
- Alaska
Glacier Bay
Sign Up for Daily Expedition Reports
Fields with an asterisk (*) are required.
Enter travel details to receive reports from a single expedition
Send Daily Expedition Reports to friends and family
*By clicking the submit button, I authorize Lindblad Expeditions to email me; however, I am able to unsubscribe at any time. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.
Please note: All Daily Expedition Reports (DERs) are posted Monday-Friday,
during normal business hours. DERs are written onboard the ship only and do
not apply to land-based portions of expeditions.