Alaska Glacier Cruise
Cruise Report T-1-98-GB - USGS WR CMG
Glacier Bay National Park is a 3.3 million-acre park and preserve that extends from Icy Strait and Cross Sound in the south to the Canadian borderin the northwest ( Figure 1 , 198K). In the last 200 years, the large glacier that filled Glacier Bay during late Neoglacial time (commonly referred to as the Little Ice Age, Goldthwait, 1963), has retreated, exposing about 100 km of a spectacular fjord system that has developed over possibly the past 100,000 years (Goldthwait, 1987). As the glacier has retreated, the newly exposed benthic habitat has undergone rapid physical and biological changes making it an ideal site to study glaciology, fjord sedimentation, and species succession (Milner and Woods,1990; Engstrom, 1995). ... [Read More]
Investigation of the potential disturbance of harbor seals by cruiseships in Disenchantment Bay, Alaska, May to August 2002
There are no published findings on how seals on glacial ice respond when they are approachedby vessels, though studies have been undertaken. In Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay, a study in 1985 suggested thatmore harbor seals entered the water in response to smaller boats, such as kayaks, than to larger cruiseships, though the latter disturbed animals at greater distances (Calambokidis et al., unpub. ms.). In McBride Fjord, Glacier Bay, researchers found that seals entered the water more often and in larger numbers in response to kayaks than larger skiffs (Lewis and Mathews 2000). In JohnsHopkins Inlet, Glacier Bay, Mathews (1994) reported that harbor seals vacated ice floes at greaterdistances to cruise ships than much smaller boats (i.e. one-quarter the size). Similar results on harbor seals atterrestrial haulout sites support the hypothesis that vessel type may be as important as approachdistance in determining the outcome of seal-vessel interactions (Suryan and Harvey 1999; Lelli andHarris ... [Read More]
Glacier Bay Field Station - The Station
12/15/99 USGS Participates in Glacier Bay Plan: The USGS Alaska Science Center - Biological Science Office (ASC - BSO) is participating in the development of a comprehensive Glacier Bay, Alaska, marine reserve and fisheries research program. The stage for this opportunity was set as the result of two events: the closure by the National Park Service (NPS) of large portions of Glacier Bay to commercial fishing, and the 7-year history of collection of pre-closure data by USGS scientists. Marine reserves are increasingly attractive as a fisheries management alternative, yet little research has occurred on the feasibility and efficacy of closing north temperate Pacific areas to commercial fishing. Furthermore, there is a need by the NPS and Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) for current information on stock status and life history characteristics to support sustainable yield of fisheries that were not closed. The USGS ASC - B ... [Read More]
GUIDED SILVER SALMON OR TROUT FISHING (RENTAL CAR REQUIRED)
Day trip includes transfers to/from Seward with a 6 hour cruise of Resurrection Bay and the Kenai Fjords National Park. Cruise offers opportunity to view whales, sea otters, Stellar sea lions (an endangered species), bird rookeries, eagles, puffins, Dall porpoise, a tidewater glacier, and unique geological formations. Lunch is included on the cruise. 7:30AM – 9:00PM Departs daily from the Hilton. (Trips on Sept. 16 th & 23 rd only will also include dinner - Minimum number required) $189.00 ... [Read More]
Geology of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Glaciers form because snowfall in the high mountains exceeds snowmelt (snowfall > snowmelt) .The snowflakes first change to granular snow -- round ice grains-- but the accumulating weight soon presses it into solid ice. Eventually,gravity sets the ice mass flowing downslope at up to seven feet per day. Thepark includes some 12 tidewater glaciers that calve into the bay. Theshow can be spectacular. As water undermines some ice fronts, greatblocks of ice up to 200 feet high break loose and crash into the water. Johns Hopkins Glacier calves such volumes of ice that it is seldompossible to approach its ice cliffs closer than about two miles. Theglaciers seen here today are remnants of a general ice advance -- the LittleIce Age -- that began about 4,000 years ago. This advance in noway approached the extent of continental glaciation during Pleistocene time. The Little Ice age reached its maximum extent here about 1750,when general melting began. Today's advance or retreat of a glacie ... [Read More]
Researchers Study Benthic Habitats in Glacier Bay, Alaska
Commercial-fishing closures mandated by Congress in 1999 in parts of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (southeastern Alaska) created a network of five protected areas, which make up one of North America's largest temperate-marine reserves. Twelve active tidewater glaciers remain in the Glacier Bay fiord, where historical rates of glacier retreat are among the highest documented worldwide (more than 60 km of retreat in the past 200 years). In collaboration with the National Park Service, the USGS conducted sidescan- and multibeam-sonar surveys in 1998 and 2001 to map the acoustic reflectance and bathymetry of the sea floor in lower and central Glacier Bay. These data provide information about the geologic characteristics of the sea floor and offer the opportunity to link studies of sea-floor geology and benthic ecology. ... [Read More]
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve - Plan Your Visit
Several cruise ship lines offer Alaska cruises from major west coast cities that include a Glacier Bay visit. Tour boats, which are generally smaller and carry fewer passengers, offer cruises to Glacier Bay that depart several times a week from Juneau and other southeast Alaska towns. Charter boat services originating in local communities are also available. ... For those arriving at Bartlett Cove or Gustavus and desiring to travel into the park, Glacier Bay is best seen by boat. The distance to the tidewater glaciers is 50-60 miles. The Glacier Bay Lodge park concession runs a daily tour boat beginning in late May through mid-September. The journey takes about eight hours round trip. A National Park Service ranger-naturalist is on board to point out the bay's natural features and wildlife and to answer questions. For reservations and information, click on the Glacier Bay Lodge/Day Boat link above. ... [Read More]
Alaska Region Activities and Events
Glacier Bay ... Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska: ... Seward Highway , the area offers visitors an easy walk to the face of a glacier, a nature trail and a more challenging trail to the Harding Ice Field. ... [Read More]
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve - Facilities
The Glacier Bay Lodge operates a daily tour boat trip into the bay during the summer months. The Lodge also offers a camper/kayaker drop-off service at designated locations in the bay. Various large cruise ship and tour boat companies bring visitors into the park. Guided kayak adventures and kayak rentals are available. There are guided kayak, backpacking, and raft trips down the Alsek River. In Glacier Bay National Preserve hunting and fishing guides are available. For more information and a list of companies providing visitor services to Glacier Bay see Planning Your Visit. ... [Read More]
Spring Multibeam Cruise in Glacier Bay Provides Spectacular Images
Paul Carlson and Andy Stevenson of CMG Menlo Park joined Philip Hooge and four other biologists from the BRD Glacier Bay Field Station on a 9-day cruise (May 28th-June 5th) that acquired superb multibeam imagery from Glacier Bay, Alaska. The scientists collected data at resolutions of 5 m per pixel and better using a RESON SeaBat 8111 system on the M/V Davidson , a former NOAA vessel. The cruise was funded by a joint GD-BRD grant (to Hooge and Carlson ) plus an equal share of the cost provided by Glacier Bay National Park. The GD-BRD cruise was linked to a preceding cruise off Southeast Alaska financed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and a subsequent cruise off the Semidi Islands financed by NOAA. These cooperative ventures were mutually productive because of the high mobilization costs for work in Alaskan waters. Contractor Thales GeoSolutions (Pacific), Inc., of Anchorage collected the data on all three cruises. Bathymetric data are already under study, and co-lo ... [Read More]
|