Alaska - Day 12 - Valdez

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I woke up this morning a bit groggy, a little achy, and to a cloudy (like actually in the clouds) morning. Not sure if it’s the weather or if I’m just truly over-taxing this body. It wasn’t raining though, so that was an improvement from yesterday. At breakfast, I met Alana and Russ from Flagstaff, AZ here celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary and also a newlywed couple from Germany on their honeymoon. All great people and it made for great breakfast conversation. Rose prepped a wonderful breakfast – blueberry muffin tops for which we were the taste testers, fruit salad with homemade yogurt, individual baked egg special recipe, coffee, juice, cereal – all excellent. We all chatted about what we’d already done and what was still to do on our trips. Then I found out earlier this morning they saw through their bedroom window a mom black bear with her cub right by the house. Turns out it was right about the same time I was outside, trying to stretch achy muscles out. Sure glad I didn’t meet up with that momma black bear, especially since she had a youngster with her! It’s a different world up here!

Following breakfast, I ready for the day long (9hr) cruise to/from the Meares Glacier. I have mixed feelings about the day since it is so cloudy and damp. I consider not going but that would be throwing money away since it’s pre-paid. It was beautiful yesterday even in the rain and chill so I decide to go and just stay inside the boat more and try to sit instead of standing so much. We’ll see how that works if there’s lots to see!

It’s a short but beautiful drive. Check-in is smooth and we are quickly boarded and ready to go. There are lots of clouds and some chill but no rain. Staying dry will make a huge difference I’m sure. There are two Adventure Caravans aboard. These are caravans of RVs that meet in one place in order to travel together to other places. One group is from Livingston, TX and the other came from Disney. One of the groups actually met in Montana and then came up through Canada on a 58 day tour. I’m certain they didn’t take the 60 mile gravel road into McCarthy/Kennicott…lol. Both groups had a lot of nice people and it made for some very interesting onboard conversation.

I’ll make my story more of an informational list today because there was just so much knowledge transfer, it makes my head spin. Here are some of the countless tidbits:

· Valdez (pronounced Valdeez) is a non-ice port meaning Prince William Sound and its Inlets/Fjords never truly freeze, even in winter.

· Average snow fall is 325in (that’s 27 feet in one winter). Record snowfall was 560.7in (46.7 feet) in winter of 1989/90. Average rainfall is 64in annually (that’s a lot of rain)

· Temperature average in summer is 53.5; in winter 27.9

· Valdez is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains – the tallest coastal mountains in North America, rising from sea level to an elevation of 7,000 feet and are the most heavily glaciated mountains in the Northwest

· Valdez population is about 4,100

· Major historic events include

o 1898 – Gold Rush Stampede

o 1964 – 5 minute, 9.2 measured earthquake that decimated Valdez. The town moved/rebuilt four miles down the road to what was deemed a safer location.

o 1970’s – Construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and Marine Terminal

o 1989 – Exxon Valdez oil spill and clean-up

o 1990 – Valdez hosted the first-ever World Extreme Skiing Championships

· Birds that look like what we would call Sea Gulls are actually Black-legged Kittiwakes – cousin to the Sea Gull

· The stunning waterfalls I took just a couple pictures of in the rain on the way in actually freeze in winter and host world championship ice climbing events

· US Coast Guard monitors all boat traffic in and around Valdez and within Prince William Sound. There is an outbound traffic lane designated separation area, and then an inbound traffic lane. The Vessel Traffic Center (VTC) was mandated by Congress to be in place until the oil is done and the pipeline removed

· There are 30,000 square miles of glacier ice covering 5% of the state. Glacier ice is blue because the physical properties of the water molecule absorb all of the colors in the spectrum except the blue. Glaciers in Prince William Sound are both retreating (shortening the distance from the origin to the terminus) and advancing (increasing in size)

· COLUMBIA GLACIER (yesterday’s adventure) is the second largest tidewater glacier in America and the largest in Prince William Sound.

o Descends from an ice field 10,000 feet above sea level down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains and into a narrow inlet that leads into Prince William Sound

o Began a rapid retreat (receding) in 1980. By 2011, had retreated 12 miles. One of the most rapidly changing glaciers in the world and thus, actively monitored today

o This one glacier accounts for nearly half to the ice loss in the Chugach Mountains mostly through iceberg calving.

· MEARES GLACIER

o Face of glacier is approximately one mile wide

o Meares Glacier is the only tidewater glacier at the head of the Unakwik Inlet that is currently advancing

o Though the Columbia Glacier gets more attention given its closer proximity to Valdez, I personally thought the Meares Glacier was more striking because of its magnificent backdrops and scenery. We did not see any calving at the Meares Glacier so I felt badly for the people on this trip but I personally had the recent memory of yesterday’s calving at the Columbia Glacier. I quietly appreciate my good fortune.

Here is some tidbit info on the Prince William Sound mammals I observed:

· Stellar Sea Lion – Large males average 1,200 lbs., females ‘only’up to 650 lbs. They eat during the night, sunning and resting on rocks during the day. Bull Head (in my pictures) is mostly a bachelor colony and noted for their boisterous bellowing.

· Humpback Whales – Baleen feeders (filter-feeder system inside their mouths that traps krill, etc.) consuming nearly a ton of food daily, mostly plankton and krill. They migrate 6,000 miles to reach their summer feeding grounds here in Alaska. Average 45 feet in length and 35-40 tons. They can be underwater for as long as 30 minutes.

· Sea Otter – Known as the “old man of the sea” and largest member of the weasel family in North America. Males can weigh up to 100 lbs., consume about 25% of their weight daily and the rest of the time, floating on their backs grooming and resting. Babies are carried on the mom’s tummy during that season.

· Orca Whale (nickname Killer Whale) – Largest member of the dolphin family reaching 30 ft. and weighing 4-6 tons. Orca has teeth (not baleens) and feeds on fish or other mammals. They can reach speeds of 30 mph. They stay in family groups or pods and show a highly evolved social structure. Year-round Resident Orca’s do not feed on mammals – only fish. Transient Orca’s will feed on other mammals such as seals.

· Harbor Seal – Not as social as Sea Lions. They dive up to 600 ft. to retrieve their food. They are not agile or safe on land. Females with pups are seen up on the icebergs near glaciers.

· Dall’s Porpoise – did not get pictures but got a quick glimpse. They have stocky, black body with large white sections on belly flanks. Fastest of all the cetaceans swimming up to 35 mph. They take fish, squid, and crustaceans in the open ocean and schooling fish in coastal waters. They weigh up to 400 lbs. and are 6-8 ft. in length.

Separate mention must be given to the Exxon Oil Spill, March 24th, 1989, just after midnight

· 10.8 million gallons of oil spilled into Prince William Sound at Bligh Reef (location shown in one of my pictures). The amount of oil spilled could fill 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

· 1,300 miles of coastline were hit by the oil spill

· Cleanup required 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats and roughly 100 airplanes and helicopters. Four deaths were directly associated with cleanup efforts

· Over $300 million of economic harm to more than 32 thousand people whose livelihoods depended on commercial fishing

· Two years following the Exxon Valdez spill, economic losses to recreational fishing were estimated at $31 million

· Twelve years after the spill, oil could still be found on half of the 91 randomly selected beaches surveyed. Mother Nature continues its very long-term cleanup

· As many as 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 900 bald eagles, 1,000 harlequin ducks and 250,000 seabirds died in the days following the disaster

· As of 2010, approximately 26,000 gallons of Valdez crude oil are still in Alaska’s sand and soil

· In the end, per our onboard historical lecture, it was a series of errors that caused the Exxon Valdez to run aground on the Bligh reef

o Harbor pilot guided the ship through the Valdez Narrows before departing and returning piloting to the ship’s master

o It was maneuvered out of the outbound traffic lane to avoid large and numerous icebergs

o Sometime after 11pm, the pilot departed the navigation bridge leaving a Third Mate in charge of the navigation bridge and a Seaman at the helm with instructions to return to southbound traffic lane at prearranged point. It failed to return to the shipping lanes after miscommunications and struck the Bligh Reef shortly after midnight

o No initial response for containment due to lack of available resources and record snow level (>500in)

o The Pilot’s masters license was suspended for nine months, was fined $50,000, and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service which was fulfilled at a soup kitchen in Anchorage. He paid the fine in 2002 and finished the community service over a five year span. His masters’ license was never revoked (valid to this day) but he was unable to find long-term work as a captain after the spill. He claims this could have been avoided if the tanker’s Raycas radar, broken/disabled for more than a year before, had been working and able to be viewed by the Third Mate.

o The Exxon Valdez was towed to San Diego for repairs arriving 6/30/89. Approximately 1600 tons of steel were removed and replaced totaling $30 million. It remained a single-hull design.


• After repairs, it was renamed Exxon Mediterranean, the SeaRiver Mediterranean in early 1990s; Later shortened to S/R Mediterranean and then in 2005, simply Mediterranean
• Exxon tried briefly to return the ship to North American fleet but It was prohibited by law to return to Prince William Sound so it served in Europe, Middle East and Asia until 2002 when it was again removed from service
• In 2005, it began operating under Marshall Islands flag of convenience but since then, European Union regulations have also prevented vessels with single-hull designs from entering European ports.
• In early 2008, it was sold to Hong Kong-based shipping company which renamed it Dong Fang Ocean under Panama registry. During that year, it was refitted and converted from oil tanker to ore carrier.
• On November 29, 2010, it collided in the South China Sea with the Malta-flagged cagro ship, Aali. Both vessels were severely damaged and it was towed to Shandong.
• In March 2012, it was purchased for scrap and sailed under its own power to a ship breaker in Singapore. It changed hands among scrap merchants (common) and eventually routed to Alang, India and at some point renamed Oriental Nicety. As of May, 2012, a court order prevented the ship from being beached because it was argued to be in breach of the Basel Convention. Finally, July 30^th, 2012, the Supreme Court of India granted permission for the owners to beach her at Gujarat coast where it could be dismantled. It was beached on August 2, 2012.


o Measures put into place as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill include –


• Mandate put in place requiring any tankers coming to Alaska had to be double-hulled by 2005. This mandate is actually being pursued worldwide now
• Traffic Vessel Center mandated by Congress for Valdez and its Narrows beyond Bligh Reef
• Coast Guard manages real time all coastal traffic into and out of Valdez
• Two forward and one rear escorts are required for each tanker going into or out of Valdez
• A formal containment plan including designated, etc. is now in place and ready to be activated in the event of any future spill


Above Information was validated and clarified using Wikopedia.

So that’s probably more information than you ever wanted to know. Please understand this was only a sampling of all the information provided across the two cruises. It was incredibly fascinating but certainly mentally challenging to grasp it all, especially when over-stimulated by seeing and being where it all happened. It became that much more meaningful to me being right there where it all happened. I’ll let pictures tell the other stories of the day.

Upon our return to Valdez, Gold Rush Days, a significant Valdez event celebrating the old Gold Rush days, was in full swing. Adults walked throughout the town in old-fashioned, gold rush day attire – some of it was quite hysterical. There were bands, displays, and Gold Rush Days sales all over town. If I wasn’t so tired, I would have walked around and enjoyed the event but whether it was all the fresh air, the information overload of the day, or whatever, it was enough to just observe from the car as I drove through town. I did make one stop at an outdoors supply store and got some Alaskan socks and a walking stick to hopefully help with future hiking. Thank the good Lord for no rain and another incredible day all around. I hit the sack knowing tomorrow is another pack up and move on day.

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Photos

Deadliest Catch Boats!!
No TV cameras; didn't see the staff; still surreal to actually see the boats for real ;)

Comments

[Vickie Hart]

You never fail to hook me in...
Another great post! I love those little sea otters :-). Looking forward to reading more!

[Debbie]

Hi! I found your blog via Alaska.org and I have enjoyed all the entries so far, was really interested in all the details about the Exxon Valdez. I\'d wondered what happened to it. I worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service the summer of the spill, stationed on Naked Island which is where the Valdez was anchored until they stabilized enough to tow it South. Seeing it anchored still leaking oil, seeing the massive amount of oil in so many places in the Sound, and seeing the dead/dying birds in that beautiful area is all so clear in my mind, these many years later. Love your blog...I\'m going back to reading now!