The Critters of Glacier Bay NP

(This is third in a series of posts recapping my recent trip to Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska.)

As promised, here's the second part of my Glacier Bay National Park tour recap.  This time I'm featuring photos of all the wildlife spotted from the boat.  If you missed my first post about the Glacier Bay NP scenery, you can find it here.

This brave sea otter swam right next to the boat

Our tour boat had barely left the dock when we began to see dozens of sea otters floating peacefully in the waters of Bartlett Cove.  Sea otters are such adorable creatures, I was bound and determined to get some photos of them!  The only problem was most of the otters weren't very close to our boat.  Even my 500 mm zoom lens didn't have enough reach for good images.

"What's that boat doing right here?"

Then I spotted one whiskered fellow that appeared to be floating right towards the boat.  Quickly positioning myself on the same side, I was able to capture the otter as he passed right next to the bow.  Success!  By the look on the otter's face I think he was a bit surprised to see a large boat so close by.

Rock full of sea lions

After about an hour of traveling, our tour boat approached South Marble Island.  The park ranger stationed aboard informed us that we'd see lots of marine life here.  The man was right!  The first rock lying near the island was packed with sea lions.

Puffins!

Then I noticed small birds floating in the water.  Puffins!  One of my hopes while in Alaska was to photograph some puffins.  And lucky for me, these adorable birds were close enough that I was able to capture several good images with my big lens.

Puffin flapping his wings

There is no bird more endearing than the puffin.  With it's huge orange beak, white face, and hairy tufts of feathers on top of it's head, this sea bird is definitely unique.

Gulls flying from South Marble Island

In addition to sea lions and puffins, South Marble Island was home to many species of birds.  We saw hundreds of gulls, cormorants, and Common Murres (just to name a few that I knew.)

One sea lion is king of the rock

Knowing the passengers would want adequate time to see all the wildlife, our boat captain thoughtfully cruised very slowly by the island.

Common Murre slashing in the water

I caught this little Common Murre taking a splashy bath.

Sea lions having a pool party

And this herd of sea lions looked to be having a rowdy pool party.  (According to Google a group of sea lions is referred to as a "herd" or "raft.")

One more puffin

I particularly liked this image of one puffin who swam the closest of all.

Our view as we drifted away from South Marble Island

After an eventful half hour, we passengers finally bid South Marble Island a fond farewell.

Mama bear and two cubs!

But there was more good stuff to come!  Not much farther up the bay my eagle-eyed hubby spotted a mother bear and her two cubs on the shore.

The best view I got of the bear family

She looked to be a grizzly bear (or brown bear as Alaskans call them).  It was hard to get a clear photo of the family as they kept ducking into the bushes.  I assume they were after berries.

The bears took off into the brush

Despite the not-so-clear views, it was still an amazing sighting!

Mountain goats at Gloomy Knob

Not long after our bear sighting the boat passed a rocky outcrop that our ranger said was named "Gloomy Knob."  There atop the knob, were a mother mountain goat and her kid.

Two goats having lunch

Further around the knob, we spotted two adult mountain goats intent on their lunch.

This goat looks like he's smiling

I loved this photo.  It looks like the mountain goat is smiling!  As the boat circled Gloomy Knob, we spotted two more mountain goats.  This was the only place we saw goats on the entire trip.

Two orcas kept jumping around the boat

More surprises were in store for our cruise that day.  A little bit later someone sighted two orcas jumping near the boat.  Everyone crowded to the side they were spotted, trying to guess where the pair would appear next.  I tried in vain to capture the orcas, but it was extremely difficult.  The orcas would surface so quickly that if you didn't have your camera sighted in the exact spot, you missed them.  The above image was the best I was able to get.  Still, what a great wildlife sighting!  Apparently it's rare to see orcas in Glacier Bay.  Even our park ranger, who sees this area everyday, was impressed.

Harbor seals on an iceberg

As our boat floated towards the Margerie Glacier at Glacier Bay's very end, we began to see icebergs floating in the water.  Perched on top of one larger iceberg was a family of Harbor seals.

Surprise raft of sea otters!

After spending a good long time viewing both the Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers, our boat finally started it's engine for the long trip back to Bartlett Cove.  As the boat turned around, it revealed the waters on the opposite side of the glaciers.  It was then my hubby and I spotted a huge group of sea otters perched on an iceberg.  We'd been so busy looking at the glaciers we nearly missed them!

Just hanging out on an iceberg

It was the largest group of sea otters in one place we'd seen that day.  And apparently, according to Google, a group of resting sea otters is also called a "raft."

There were so many otters floating in the bay here!  I'm not sure how we missed them on the trip in.  But luckily we didn't miss them upon our exit.  I noticed another large raft of otters all lined up, as if they were waiting for someone to take their picture.  Of course, I obliged.  

Everyone get in line for the picture!

As mentioned in my previous post, the return trip was much more mundane.  The weather turned cloudy, misty and windy.  The boat didn't stop by any wildlife areas and the crummy weather kept many animals away.  We did spot a few humpback whales near the entrance to Bartlett Cove.  However I'd had better sightings on the previous day's whale watching tour (see my whale watching post here), so didn't bother to get any photos.

Common Murres

Two days later, a couple we'd befriended at our lodging establishment took the same cruise.  The weather was miserable that day - foggy and rainy - and they didn't see much wildlife.  I felt very fortunate not only to have stellar weather but also to have experienced so many great animal sightings.  If you're ever in Glacier Bay National Park, I highly recommend taking the National Park boat tour that departs daily from Glacier Bay Lodge in Bartlett Cove.