18. Glacier Bay 

Back with our 2nd Alaskan park and if you don’t know already there are 8 so plenty more Alaska to come! And 7 of those 8 parks were all established in 1980 a record year for the national parks with 9 total established. When I think about Alaska I think Mountains, glaciers, bears, moose, Northern lights, and so much wilderness. I really wanted to find ways to make each of the 8 national parks stand out for what the park itself was highlighting and protecting. So with Glacier Bay I of course painted the great Margerie Glacier. A 21 mi long tidewater glacier in the  Farthest reach of the Tarr inlet of Glacier Bay.

A tidewater glacier, I learned, just means the glacier interacts with ocean saltwater. Margerie originates in the Fairweather Mountain Range at elevations of about 9000 feet and slowly carves its path down the range out to sea. The ice then falls into the ocean in a process called calving, breaking into icebergs. The process is said to sound like cannon fire. The icebergs then become resting spots for harbor seals, sea otters, and birds.

The other star of my painting is the humpback whale. Glacier bay national park is a common summer feeding grown for the humpback on its long migration. And one of the most protected places on the planet for the whales as a humpback sanctuary. Once endangered the park now sees the number of Humpbacks grow every year.

They have always been my mom’s favorite whales and I got to see many of them feeding off the coast of Big Sur California back in 2016. I’d imagine many people feel like me and seeing these giants is a memory you don’t forget. At 40-50ft  long and weighing in 40 tons their acrobatics create quite a splash. I learned that with a simple breath from their blowhole the Humpback Whale expels air at over 300mph which is insane but makes sense why it can be seen from such distances.

Back to the park! It’s the 6th largest protected area at 3.2 million acres. One of the craziest things I learned was that Glacier bay holds the record for the largest recorded tidal wave. In 1958 a 8.0 earthquake caused a massive landslide into the sea. In the turmoil a 1720 foot mega tsunami hit Lituya bay. It’s wild but not totally uncommon, definitely look into it cause I found it super interesting! This park is home to over 1000 glaciers as some glaciers melt or retreat the barren land begins to teem with life. The Tongass Temperate rainforest just south of the national park is proof. 

Have you toured Glacier bay tell me all about it in the comments.

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