Prince William Sound

James Cook discovered Prince William Sound in 1778. When he did, he named it Sandwich Sound after the Earl of Sandwich, his patron at the time. The editors of his maps changed the name to Prince William Sound after Prince William who later became King William IV.



Photo: Captain James Cook. Wikimedia Commons

Prince William Sound is surrounded by the 2nd largest national forest in the U.S. - the Chugach National Forest. The steep and glaciated Chugach Mountains form a ring around the sound.

There are many islands and fjords and tidewater glaciers. Montague Island, Hinchinbrook Island, and Hawkins Island are the barrier islands forming the Prince William Sound.

The largest port is Valdez which is located at the southern most end of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

Prince William Sound is the home to thousands of animals including bears, seabirds, sea otters, harbour seals, bald eagles, and killer whales.



Photo: Harbour Seal. Wikimedia Commons

In 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran onto Bligh Reef spilling over 10.8 million US gallons of crude oil.



This was the largest oil spill in the world and is considered the largest ecological disaster ever because of the large number of wildlife killed and habitat destroyed. The wildlife killed was estimated at 250,000 seabirds, nearly 3,000 sea otters, 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles and about 22 killer whales. (From 1989 BBC article, Exxon Valdez creates oil slick disaster.

Photo: Exxon Valdez. Wikimedia Commos

I had the pleasure of viewing Prince William Sound first hand through Discovery Voyages in the fall of 2008. It was the most exciting and memorable trip I've ever taken. We sailed for 3 days and 2 nights leaving from the small town of Whittier.

Below is some information about Discovery Voyages, Captain Rand and his crew along with some of the photos I took. I'll come back and share more with you.

Photo: Frankster (that's me) after hiking along the coast.

My trip to Alaska also included a 3-day, 2-night boat trip in Prince William Sound and was absolutely awe-inspiring. Captain Dean Rand is a well respected mariner and is involvement in the scientific research conducted in the Sound. I learned a lot from him about the wildlife and the environment.

His crew is also quite knowledgeable and made me feel right at home. Every wish was answered and then some. The food was absolutely amazing. It was 5 stars. And, they cater to their guests. If you are a vegetarian, like me, you'll love it. If you not, you'll love it too and discover some incredible new foods. (I couldn't bribe the chef enough to get him to come home with me even though I promised that my husband would approve!)

To see how you can take this wonderful cruise click, Discovery Voyages
Here's a picture of the Discovery and her crew.

The royalties raised on this lens go to NWF's Alaska Natural Resource Center. National Wildlife Federation's Alaska Office is focused on protecting Alaska's wildlife and people from the impacts of global warming while building a conservation movement.

Their efforts range from education and advocacy on national climate legislation to protection of areas vital to wildlife in a warming world to our Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) program, which empowers young people to impact vital environmental health and justice issues through skills training, visible action projects and campaigns, and workforce development

For more information on NWF click NWF-Arctic Refuge. Or, for membership information, click NWF Membership.

For the Alaska Natural Resource Center's office, click Alaska Resource Center.

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