Friday June 14th, 2024
We left Bartlett Cove this morning around 7:30. Our first stop was to South Marble Island for a viewing of Stellar Sea Lions, and boy are they big. We spent about an hour touring this island loaded with the lions. Mature males can with almost 2,000 pounds (the big guy in the above photo fits the bill), while females average only 600 pounds. Along the way we saw more Sea Otters swimming in the ocean than we have ever sighted. Literally dozens and dozens throughout the day. Apparently otters have expanded from just a few in the mid 80s to around 8,000 in the last thirty years in Glacier Bay. We also saw several humpback whales along our journey.
We settled into North Sandy Cove for the evening. It is a very protected Cove with plenty of space for boats. Our sailing friends, Karen and Kevin are here and will join us for cocktails. There is one additional sailboat and a Navigator trawler anchored in the cove. Tomorrow we will work our way deeper into Glacier Bay for glacial views and whatever we find on land and sea.