Whittier is the head of the Passage Canal on Prince William Sound. Whittier was created by the US Army during
WWII as a port and petroleum delivery center tied to bases farther north by the
Alaska Railroad. The port was valued for
it ice-free deep-water and now its economy rests largely on the fishing
industry and tourism. The ship “Exxon
Valdes” grounded on Bligh Reef near Valdes and the oil spill had a great inpack
on Prince William Sound. The ship
carried 53 million gallons of crude oil and released 11 million gallons into
the ocean. There was a $900 million
civil settlement for restoration of injured resources and services. Jack and I took a cruise on a catamaran into
Prince William Sound to see 26 major glacier of the 1000 glacier within the Sound. Prince William Sound is 2,100 square miles
of islands and fjords (inlets and creeks) and the Chugach National forest. We saw many glaciers (got very close to two
glacier), sea otter, eagle, porpoises, sea lion, seal gull, Black-legged Kittiwake
and lots of waterfalls.
The Klondike Express is the catamaran that Jack and I took out into the
Sound.
The following pic are taken from the catamaran.
I hope that you enjoy the glacier and
animals as much as we did.
Sea lion 
Sea lion and their babies. The
tan colored ones are the babies. 
The porpoises came for a visit, but we were not fast enough to get them
on film. 
Eagle
Ice in the water from a glacier.
Sea otter 
Sea otter with their babies on the bellies very close to their
heads. 
One of the sea otter( in the back of pic) is very close to having her baby. 
Ice in the water from a glacier.
This glacier is just cavies. Caving
is when part of the glacier brakes off into the water. See the splash in the middle of the pic. 
A better pic of a glacier caving. See the splash?
Jack and Barb by Barry Glacier.
Jack and Barb by Surprise Glacier. 
Check out the water coming from under the glacier. 
A great waterfall. 
All the dots on the sea cliffs and the birds in the water are
Black-legged Kittiwake. There more than
10,000 Kittiwake that nests in the surrounding sea cliffs. 
More Kittiwakes. 
Kittiwake in flight. 
The last waterfall that I saw in the Prince William Sound. 
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