The next day we took a nine hour cruise through the Prince
William Sound. It was amazing that the
earthquake of 1964 and the oil spill of 1989 did not diminish the beauty of
Valdez and the surrounding area. 
We were
fortunate to see many animals on the trip even though the weather was overcast
and rainy. We saw several Bald Eagles
which were perched on the tall pines along the coast. With the aid of the captain we also saw black
bears, Pigeon Guillemots, puffins, and sea lions.
Everyone was in awe as we approached Meares Glacier. As we
neared the glacier we saw many icebergs
with birds and sea lions resting on top.
While viewing the glacier we heard the cracking of the ice just before
calving. The Meares Glacier was
breathtaking.
Upon our return we saw fishing boats laying nets to catch salmon. It involved the fishing boat with a smaller boat pulling the net out into the bay in a circle which surrounded the fish. The net was then tightened until the salmon were trapped and, it was then pulled into the fishing boat. It was quite an operation.
Right before we docked the captain described the refinery,
oil pipeline, tanks, and the safety measures that are now in place to prevent
any future oil spills.
