Glacier Bay National Park and World Heritage Site is 3.3 million acres with an additional 57,000 acres added in the recent past of total wilderness. Park regulations requiring a reserved permit commences on June 1st of the current year. Even though we were not required to, we went through the orientation at the Park Headquarters.
We watched the small charter boats from Gustavus return with their bounty of Halibut. The day before a record 466 lbs. 93 inch Halibut was caught (and released) in nearby waters. Only females get to be the very large sizes. The Halibut is blackish-grey on the top side and off-white on the underbelly side. When the Halibut is born the eyes are on both sides of its head so it has to swim like a salmon. After about 6 months one eye will migrate to the other side of its head, making it look more like the flounder. This happens at the same time that the stationary eyed side begins to develop a blackish-grey pigment while the other side remains white. This disguises a halibut from above (blending with the ocean floor) and from below (blending into the light from the sky).
We anchored in Bartlett Cove for the night and prepared for our exploration of the glaciers and the magnificent scenery.
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