9/13/08 – 9/16/08 Valdez
We arrived in Valdez, happy to be in the home of the southern terminus of the Alyeska Pipeline. Valdez is located deep in a fjord in the Prince William Sound. The northernmost point of the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest, Valdez is surrounded by the heavily glaciated Chugach mountains, and is breathtaking on a rare clear day. Valdez is considered to be a temperate region in Alaska due to average lows being only 17-20 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. However Valdez receives a whopping 350 inches of snow per year, which certainly makes “temperate” a relative term in my book.
Of course, Valdez is infamous for the Exxon Valdez running aground on the coral reef and the resulting oil spill in March 1989. Since that time, many changes have been implemented to prevent a disaster of that magnitude recurring. Clean-up boats and crews are ready round the clock, and the pilots that board the vessels coming in and out of Valdez Harbor ride along well past the reef now. While we saw no evidence of the spill, we were told there are still some places on the protected beaches where the tar is visible and the waters will take an additional 15-30 years to recover.
Valdez Harbor
Clean Up Response Boat
We were excited to get out on the water aboard the Valdez Spirit with Stan Stephens Cruises. Jessica was especially thrilled to have a good view of the pipeline terminus and holding tanks, aka the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT). The VMT encompasses over 1000 acres and has facilities for crude oil metering, storage, transfer and loading. Incoming crude oil from the pipelines is metered and sent either to one of eighteen 510,000 barrel storage tanks or directly to a tanker. The storage tanks have a holding capacity of 9.18 million barrels of crude oil, which the U.S. uses in about 8 hours. A tanker was being filled at Berth 5 (although there are actually only four berths) when we set out on our cruise, and was still there 6 hours later when we returned, but sitting significantly lower in the water.
Storage Tanks
More Storage Tanks
The Valdez Marine Terminal
Tanker at Berth 5
The catamaran cruise took us up the Valdez arm and into the open choppy waters of Prince William Sound. From there we turned north into Columbia bay to try to catch a glimpse of the Columbia Glacier, the second largest tidewater glacier in North America at 435 miles in length. The Columbia Glacier has been in retreat for 28 years and is one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, sliding roughly 80 feet a day and calving icebergs into the ocean at a rate of approximately 22 km3 per year. The fog and cloud cover was unfortunately very heavy so we were not able to see the glacier, as we had to stop our progression through the icebergs near the terminal moraine, around 9 miles away from the toe of the glacier. The passage through this floating field of ice was surreal and indescribable – the hush of desolation surrounded the bay, making it seem still and unmoving. Yet that impression is quite false, as the ice pieces are actually changing, moving and melting at a rapid pace. Evidence of this included a recently turned iceberg, which revealed a beautiful clear blue color created by the faster melting occurring under the surface of the water. The cruise also afforded good wildlife viewing opportunities, as we saw sea otters, stellar sea lions, cormorants, bald eagles, a minke whale, a baby shark and numerous jellyfish. We were very impressed with the captain and crew of the Valdez Spirit and highly recommend Stan Stephens Cruises to anyone travelling to Valdez.
Prince William Sound
Stellar Sea Lion
Brash Ice in Columbia Bay
Freshly Flipped Blue Ice
We found the town of Valdez to be tranquil and beautiful, the people to be hard-working and friendly, and the atmosphere to be quite compelling. Unfortunately, the precipitation factor and general weather conditions would probably preclude it from my best places to live list. Jessica, however, who is fervently looking for her dream pipeline job, might be willing to overlook the rain that she normally hates, and I may not be able to get her to leave!
Of course, Valdez is infamous for the Exxon Valdez running aground on the coral reef and the resulting oil spill in March 1989. Since that time, many changes have been implemented to prevent a disaster of that magnitude recurring. Clean-up boats and crews are ready round the clock, and the pilots that board the vessels coming in and out of Valdez Harbor ride along well past the reef now. While we saw no evidence of the spill, we were told there are still some places on the protected beaches where the tar is visible and the waters will take an additional 15-30 years to recover.
Valdez Harbor
Clean Up Response Boat
We were excited to get out on the water aboard the Valdez Spirit with Stan Stephens Cruises. Jessica was especially thrilled to have a good view of the pipeline terminus and holding tanks, aka the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT). The VMT encompasses over 1000 acres and has facilities for crude oil metering, storage, transfer and loading. Incoming crude oil from the pipelines is metered and sent either to one of eighteen 510,000 barrel storage tanks or directly to a tanker. The storage tanks have a holding capacity of 9.18 million barrels of crude oil, which the U.S. uses in about 8 hours. A tanker was being filled at Berth 5 (although there are actually only four berths) when we set out on our cruise, and was still there 6 hours later when we returned, but sitting significantly lower in the water.
Storage Tanks
More Storage Tanks
The Valdez Marine Terminal
Tanker at Berth 5
The catamaran cruise took us up the Valdez arm and into the open choppy waters of Prince William Sound. From there we turned north into Columbia bay to try to catch a glimpse of the Columbia Glacier, the second largest tidewater glacier in North America at 435 miles in length. The Columbia Glacier has been in retreat for 28 years and is one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, sliding roughly 80 feet a day and calving icebergs into the ocean at a rate of approximately 22 km3 per year. The fog and cloud cover was unfortunately very heavy so we were not able to see the glacier, as we had to stop our progression through the icebergs near the terminal moraine, around 9 miles away from the toe of the glacier. The passage through this floating field of ice was surreal and indescribable – the hush of desolation surrounded the bay, making it seem still and unmoving. Yet that impression is quite false, as the ice pieces are actually changing, moving and melting at a rapid pace. Evidence of this included a recently turned iceberg, which revealed a beautiful clear blue color created by the faster melting occurring under the surface of the water. The cruise also afforded good wildlife viewing opportunities, as we saw sea otters, stellar sea lions, cormorants, bald eagles, a minke whale, a baby shark and numerous jellyfish. We were very impressed with the captain and crew of the Valdez Spirit and highly recommend Stan Stephens Cruises to anyone travelling to Valdez.
Prince William Sound
Stellar Sea Lion
Brash Ice in Columbia Bay
Freshly Flipped Blue Ice
We found the town of Valdez to be tranquil and beautiful, the people to be hard-working and friendly, and the atmosphere to be quite compelling. Unfortunately, the precipitation factor and general weather conditions would probably preclude it from my best places to live list. Jessica, however, who is fervently looking for her dream pipeline job, might be willing to overlook the rain that she normally hates, and I may not be able to get her to leave!
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