Whale Exhibit - Glacier Bay National Park

Approximately 90% of visitors to Glacier Bay National Park arrive and depart on cruise ships. They don't have an opportunity to leave their ships to hike or kayak anywhere in the park. Unlike those visitors, we had a chance to walk around the Bartlett Cove area of the park. 

Located under a large roof on the Tlingit Trail between the lodge and the public dock is an exhibit of a humpback whale skeleton. The story of this exhibit is fascinating to me.

In 2001, a pregnant humpback whale known as Snow was hit by a cruise ship and died. After the body was washed ashore, students and other volunteers helped the park service retrieve and clean her bones to create the humpback skeleton display. Researchers have confirmed that Snow was 44 years old, 45 1/2 feet long, and weighed 35 tons.

A note on one of the interpretive displays notes: "A legal settlement with the cruise line that struck Snow helped fund this exhibit."

View from the rear on the trail from the lodge to the dock

Mouth and head

Spine, ribs, and flippers

There is no entrance fee at Glacier Bay National Park.

The Glacier Bay National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/glba/index.htm.