We started the day with a tour of the Valdez Museum. Then we took a boat tour of the Valdez Harbor and the Columbia Glacier and Ice Flow.
We saw eagles, birds, ducks, sea otters, and sea lions. We stopped for awhile to watch the sea lions play. They came right up to the boat and swam and played right along with it for a time. The ice bergs were pieces of ice that broke off the glacier. The Columbia Glacier calves off millions of tons of ice each day. They are beautiful with lots of blue in them. Because they came in so many shapes, we imaged them as different animals and objects, much like you do with clouds. The ice bergs are about 95% below water. Sometimes, their center of balance changes and they flip over. When they flip over, they are very blue-green crystal ice on the top.
Valdez was destroyed in the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. The Army Corp of Engineers condemned the town and relocated it a few miles away. The quake measured 9.2 on the Richter scale. After the boat cruise we drove to Old Valdez to see the old town. There is very little left. The old town area itself is chain link fenced although the gates are now without padlocks and standing open.
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