Glacier Bay— Tarr Inlet
May 16, 2009, 9 AM - 11:30 AM

We woke early as the ship took on rangers from the National Park Service. They were our guides for the day and gave us lots of insights and information. We spent about 2-1/2 hours watching for calving on the Margerie Glacier. Finally as we were leaving a couple of big chunks fell off. Gene called it and we were ready with cameras when it happened. It sounded like thunder.

At one time, Glacier Bay was almost entirely iced over. In 1879 naturalist John Muir found that the ice had retreated almost all the way up the bay. By 1916 the Grand Pacific Glacier at the head of Tarr Inlet, about 100 km (65 miles) from Glacier Bay's mouth, was the fastest documented glacial retreat ever. Glacier Bay contains sixteen glaciers, twelve of which reach shorelines and calve (shed broken pieces of ice) to produce icebergs.