SEA WOLF ADVENTURES
ACTIVE SMALL SHIP ADVENTURE CRUISING IN ALASKA & BRITISH COLUMBIA
ADVENTURES
INFORMATION
"WILD OCEAN MISTS"
2011 Lituya & Glacier Bay Itinerary
Price Includes: 10 nights/10 days aboard the M/V Sea Wolf,
May 08: Fly to Gustavus and Board the M/V Sea Wolf by 4:00 pm
May 09-18: Exploring the wild outer coast.
May18: Depart the Sea Wolf at 2 pm
The Adventure
May is a magical time to be in Glacier Bay National Park because we have it largely to ourselves— just the bears, the first returning humpback whales, and the thousands of migrating shore and seabirds bound for Arctic nesting sites. Both Glacier Bay and Lituya are major stops on the Pacific Flyway. Against a backdrop of some of the most magnificent mountains on earth, rivers of glacial ice tumble into the sea and aquamarine colored icebergs drift by on the tides. Responding to the boom and crash of ice at the glacier front, Kittiwakes and Arctic terns swirl over the churning, welling waters in search of food. Western sandpipers and other shorebirds skitter along the shorelines, poking their bills into the food-rich mud and gravels of the intertidal zone.
Grizzlies and black bears, recently emerged from their hibernation dens, can be seen bending down the branches of black cottonwoods to feed on the sweetly-resinous leaf buds, grazing on swards of lush sedges, and scraping succulent barnacles and mussels from rocks along the water’s edge. For wildlife, this is indeed a time of plenty.
Along the wild, storm-battered coastline of the Gulf of Alaska, just south of the Tlingit village of Yakutat, a whale-shaped fjord—Lituya Bay—lies at the foot of the spectacular Fairweather Range. Nowhere else in the world do mountains tower so far above the sea. Lituya Bay is situated at the confluence of three glaciers—the Lituya, the Cascade, and the North Crillon—and centered along a T-shaped epicenter of intense geologic activity known as the Fairweather Fault. In 1958, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake centered on Cross Sound, located forty-five miles to the southeast, set the fjord into earth-wrenching motion. The collapse of an entire mountainside near the head of Lituya Bay triggered a 1,740-foot tsunami-like wave. The wave completely decapitated the snout of Lituya Glacier, scoured all the trees from the walls of the fjord, and destroyed three fishing boats anchored in the bay. The swirling maelstrom took a tremendous toll on the bay’s wildlife—seabirds, fish, marine animals, whales, bears, and wolves. For humans, the quake was no less devastating. Today, despite its violent history, Lituya Bay offers some of the most spectacular wilderness to be found anywhere. Join us for this very special voyage of discovery! This itinerary is very flexible due to ocean conditions. We will visit the East Arm of Glacier Bay, the Outer Coast of Glacier Bay National Park and Lituya Bay. 10 days gives us room to plan around our ocean crossing to ensure a comfortable voyage for all on board.