Establishment of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is a protected area in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, on a bay shaped by glaciers. When Captain George Vancouver sailed past in 1794, the bay was almost filled by a vast glacier, but the ice has since retreated by tens of kilometres, one of the fastest glacial retreats recorded, revealing newly exposed land where plants and animals have taken hold, making it a natural laboratory for studying ecological succession. The naturalist John Muir visited in 1879 and brought it to public attention. Tidewater glaciers still calve icebergs into the water, and whales, sea otters, bears and seabirds are common. The park is part of a large UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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