If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 404

Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

The postcard shared this week is another Mark Kelley Images of Alaska card.  It shows kayakers paddling in front of a calving Johns Hopkins Glacier in Glacier Bay, Alaska.  The identifying number of PC159 is found on the reverse at the upper left corner.

We enjoy getting out and hiking, seeing wildlife and wildflowers so visiting a pristine place like Glacier Bay was a wonder and a delight.  We were fortunate that Park Rangers and people from National Geographic were aboard ship during the day in the bay.  It was cloudy and foggy and we could not see much of the mountains above the glaciers. 

Wilderness Adventures boat with kayakers, Lamplugh or Blue Glacier

Two views of the Lamplugh or Blue Glacier showing the color in the ice

Glacier Bay is protected and has limited access for ships and boats.  Cruise Liners are allowed to enter the bay but only two ships a day.  Smaller vessels are also limited.  The day our ship, which was slightly smaller than most cruise liners, visited it was the only larger ship in the bay.  Two smaller vessels, one from Wilderness Adventures, and an even smaller open boat with about 10 life-jacketed passengers were in the bay at the same time.  The Wilderness Adventures boat had kayaks and was letting people paddle around closer to the glacier.  

Small open boat with life jacketed passengers, also near the Lamplugh or Blue Glacier

The ship captain slowed and almost stopped the ship so passengers could get a good look at a large mama grizzly bear and cub strolling along a river, spot mountain goats climbing on the rocky cliff side, observe otters swimming fairly close to the ship, and seals diving and swimming alongside us.  We also saw calving of glacier ice and even a large iceberg finally breakup and disappear under the water the leftover small pieces floating into the bay.  There were many different gulls and other birds, even some sitting on icebergs.  We brought binoculars and could see things with them that our camera was not quite able to pick up with the lenses we had.  If we go again, there will probably be new lenses coming along with us.  We were glad we had listened to friends who suggested layering clothing and dressing warm.  It was cold on deck and we were grateful for many layers, ski hats, gloves and scarves.

Gulls on iceberg

Sea lions on a rocky islet

Glacier Bay Basin is located in Southeastern Alaska and includes not only the glaciers but also the surrounding mountains.  President Calvin Coolidge first named it as a U.S. National Monument in 1925.  In 1980 the area was enlarged and designated as a National Park and Preserve.  UNESCO declared a huge area of over 3 million acres a World Biosphere Reserve.  It is the largest protected biosphere in the world.  It was added as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1992 and expanded to include the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, plus two parks in Canada, Kluane National Park and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park.  Part of the National Park is designated as a Wilderness and covers more than 2 million acres.  The total park area is about 3.3 million acres.

Views of Margerie Glacier, stable

Pieces of ice were calving off Margerie Glacier, a fallen piece of the ice sheet can be seen approximately in the middle of the picture in the water.  We saw pieces fall and then a few seconds later heard the tremendous noise of it just after the ice hit the water.

Johns Hopkins Glacier, still advancing

As the glacier creeps along it pulverizes rocks and debris and drags the dirt and rubble with it as it advances or exposes it as it retreats making some of the glaciers we saw look very dirty.  All the glaciers we saw emptied into the bay but extended miles toward the back.  We saw only a tiny portion of the entire glaciers.

Today the glaciers cover about 1,375 square miles or 3,560 km, and are about 27% of the Park area.  There was one single large glacier in the 1700s.  As the ice retreats and recedes the bay opens up more ocean.  Instead of one glacier today there are many inlets, lagoons, islands and channels with about 20 smaller glaciers.  With the exception of the Johns Hopkins Glacier that is advancing, and the Margerie Glacier which is stable, the other smaller glaciers are retreating.  First known as Grand Pacific Glacier, the name, Glacier Bay, was suggested by Captain Lester A. Beardslee of the U.S. Navy in 1890.

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Bay_Basin