Mon. June 28: Today was absolutely magical. We woke to a calm sea and clear, blue skies, just as we prepared to enter Glacier Bay, all of which is part of the huge Glacier Bay National Park. Marv and I had our breakfast in the Horizon buffet at a table with a window view, because we had been told that the Icy Strait, through which we enter the Bay, was a prime area for seeing Humpback Whales, Stellar Sea Lions and Sea Otters. The brochure we had from the National Park Service shows that in 1750-1780 the glacial ice reached all the way into Icy Strait, causing Captain Vancouver to consider the area barren, forbidding and not worth exploring. Sandy was going to be on the bridge again, helping to spot sea life so we headed to the bow to see what we could see. And the show was beyond words. Both Sandy and later our tour director Connie said they had never seen anything like it. The Stellar sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks at Gustavus Point, as was expected. Then the farther we went, the more pods of humpbacks we saw, seeming to be in a feeding frenzy! We saw pod after pod, breaching, blowing, and then flashing their flukes as they dove deeper into the water. Mixed in here and there were sightings of otters and sea lions, also feeding in the rich water. We picked up four National Forest Rangers as we passed the cove where the Visitor Center is. Once they joined us, the microphone on the bridge was turned over to one of them and we had a running commentary on where we were going and what we were seeing. Nearly all activities on the ship stopped for the day, including closing the Casino! The day is devoted entirely to experiencing the indescribable beauty of Glacier Bay. It was so clear and sunny that we could even see 15,300 ft. Mount Fairweather, which is right on the Canadian border. One of the rangers did an introductory talk in the Princess Theater that was so packed it was standing room only. We went all the way into the bay and up the farthest back inlet, Tarr Inlet, to the foot of Margerie Glacier. Margerie Glacier is the fastest advancing glacier in the North America and moves 7 feet a day, therefore it is constantly calving. We were lucky enough to see many calves fall into the water with a noise like thunder. Near it is the Great Pacific Glacier, which is so slow moving that is so full of debris that it looks like solid rock. The ship stayed there for an hour, turning 180° halfway through so the starboard side could see the spectacle. We left the inlet and went around the mouth of John Hopkins Inlet and looked back at Lamplugh glacier. In 1892 when John Muir visited the area to study it and reinforce his theory that glacial action had formed the Yosemite area, both these inlets were full of glacial ice. From there we slowly made our way out of Glacier Bay. It all took all day and we watched from on deck, in the dining room (where we grabbed a quick, light lunch about 2:30, because we couldn’t tear ourselves away), our state room, Ann & Shelby’s state room, and even the one hot tub on the stern that was left open. The sun was beating down there and it was very warm because it was protected from the wind. I stayed on that deck long enough to get sunburned! We had our dinner at 5:30 in the Sante Fe dining room so we could be back to view wildlife in Icy Straits. Marv had boneless pork chops and I had surf and turf (beef fillet and 3 shrimp) with a trio of peanut butter chocolate and white nectarine ice cream with red currant sorbet. About 6:30 we dropped the 4 Rangers to return to their station. As we retraced our route out, we again found many pods of humpbacks feeding, much to the surprise of Sandy, who was back at the microphone again. I was thrilled to actually see one of them leap all the way out of the water and land with a splash that Marv saw after hearing me squeal. By 8:15 we were through the Straits and no longer seeing whales so we met Ann and Shelby in the Explorer Lounge to hear the comic, Kevin Jordan’s, last show of the cruise. He was very funny and did a good show. About 10:15 we could see that there was actually going to be a good sunset into the mountains on our side of the ship so we hurried back to our cabin to watch and film it. As we stepped onto our balcony two Dall Porpoises were playing in the wake off the side of the ship, right below us. The sunset was spectacular and lasted for a long time as the color shifted, spread and changed. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
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