Cruising Glacier Bay - Alaska
by Jenna Ann Grant
http://www.qtcruise.com
You can watch movies about it, you can hear about it,
you can read about it, but until you partake of it, you
have no clue how thrilling it is to cruise Glacier Bay.
Glacier Bay Mountain ranges with peaks over 10,000 feet,
culminating in 15,320 foot high Mount Fairweather within the
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.
Nowhere in Alaska, or even in the world, can you see the
awesome sight of the tidewater glacier that spreads from a
peak 3 miles high down to sea level, that is called the
Margerie Glacier.
Only 200 years ago, the beautiful fjords and cruising areas
of "Glacier Bay", were buried under ice thousands of feet
thick. In 1794, Capitan George Vancouver saw the face of
an enormous glacier at Glacier Bay's entrance at Icy Strait.
In 1879, naturalist John Muir discovered that the ice had
retreated an astonishing 48 miles up the Bay. By 1916, (a
few more years), its face had withdrawn 65 miles all the way
to the head of Tarr Inlet close to where it is today.
In 200 short years, these magnificent glaciers have left
us with the breath-taking, 65 mile long bay we now enjoy.
The glaciers on the Bay are very active and you do not have
to wait too long to see or hear "calving". Calving occurs
when large parts of a glacier separate and crash into
the Bay.
The calving sounds like an explosion, which bounces off the
glacier walls, and the ice makes a humongous splash as
it crashes into Glacier Bay.
Along with Mother Nature's incredible playful artistry of
twinkling icebergs and striking views, you will probably
be entertained by the plentiful wildlife that call this
section of Alaska their homefront.
Tufted puffins, Alaskan brown bears, humpback whales, minke
and orca, harbor seals, majestic bald eagles, porpoises,
sea otters, stellar sea lions, wolves, moose, black bears,
mountain goats, and more than 200 species of birds are
fun to see.
One of the most colorful birds are puffins. Puffins are a
small, pigeon-sized seabird that live on the open ocean
throughout the majority of the year. They fly, swim or
ride the surface of the ocean all through the year regard-
less of weather, except to breed.
>From April to mid August they colonize on seacoasts, and
islands to breed. Pufiins have black and white plumage and
a vertically flat, triangular shaped bill that is brightly
colored during breeding season.
Whether watching the wildlife or partaking in the magnifi-
cence of the views, the beauty of Alaska overflows in this
beautiful Park.
Submit An Article
|
|
Improve Your Advertising ROI (Return on Investment)
|
