John Muir, the naturalist, conservationist and scientist, pioneered the focus of the world on the Glacier Bay phenomenon. During his research Muir had witnessed the glaciers in action. He had noted that the ice had retreated almost all the way up. In 1888 (1889 is also mentioned in some references) when John Muir first visited the Bay, this wall was and retreated from the sea by . Now, it stands retreated to , as a remnant of the old wall of the glacier system and has 16 major tidewater glaciers (10, 12 and 15 are also mentioned in some references).
