Today we had the opportunity to explore the pristine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park, a designated World Heritage Site. The wonderful weather allowed us to see the majestic snow-covered mountains of the Fairweather Range, beautiful reflections on the aquamarine water, and clear views of the glaciers.
The Johns Hopkins Glacier, one of the more active glaciers, is about one mile wide, 250 feet high at the terminus, and 200 feet deep at the water line. As we made our way north, we saw first-hand, the dramatic retreat of the glaciers and the incredible process of succession. We saw many wonderful species of seabirds including the "parrots of the sea" or tufted puffins. We looked through our binoculars and saw them perched outside their burrows on South Marble Island. Steller sea lions rested on rocks, and sea otters, harbor porpoise, humpback whales, harbor seals, and black bears were also seen.
The wildlife highlight for all of us was the dancing bears! We watched in utter amazement as two brown bears strolled on the beach and then headed into the water where they splashed and smacked each other, romped and rolled, and before we knew what was happening, reared up on their hind legs, gave each other a huge bear hug, danced some more, and left us speechless.
