During the middle of the night, the National Geographic Venture entered Glacier Bay National Park and sailed with the tide approximately 60 miles into the park. At sunrise, we were treated to beautiful light playing on the mountain peaks of the Fairweather Range and the clouds hovered over the Johns Hopkin Glacier. Just after breakfast, we visited Margerie Glacier listening and watching the glacier calve big pieces of ice into Tarr Inlet. Our thoughtful hotel staff set out a Bloody Mary bar stocked with all the fixings including candied salmon. As we made our way back down the bay, we encounter a total of three coastal brown bear on the shore of Rustle Cut. One interaction appeared to be a large dark male bear pursuing a smaller blonde female bear. Further south we watched a half dozen mountain goats perched on the precarious ledges of Gloomy Knob grazing on grass. Further down the bay we approached the Marble Islands which were teeming with wildlife including a bald eagle, an abundance of sea birds including puffins, and dozens of Northern sea lions hauled out. We headed south into the setting summer sun for another day of adventure in Southeast Alaska.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 09 Jul 2021
Glacier Bay National Park, 7/9/2021, National Geographic Venture
- Aboard the National Geographic Venture
- Alaska
Rich Reid, Director of Expedition Photography
Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Rich Reid has specialized in environmental and adventure photography for over three decades. On assignment with National Geographic Adventure, he cycled Alaska's Inside Passage by ferry and explored California...
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We awoke to a wall of ice towering outside of the ship. Sometime in the night we anchored alongside the monumental Johns Hopkins Glacier. Along the base of the glacier, hundreds of harbor seals lounged on the rafts of ice, and stunning mountain views accompanied the impressive natural feature for which the park was named. After eating breakfast with a glacial blue backdrop, we pulled anchor and began our exploration of the park in earnest. We visited several more glaciers, including prime examples of tidewater, hanging, and beached varieties; we also observed large numbers of sea otters and surf scoters. After lunch we turned our focus to wildlife and were rewarded with views of mountain goats on Gloomy Knob, as well as a brown bear excavating a comfortable resting spot on the beach. Later we were treated to a surprise concert by one of our guests (award winning musician Jim Peterick). We wrapped up the day with a visit to South Marble Island where dozens of tufted puffins and large rafts of Steller sea lions gave excellent views.
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