Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound, large, irregular, islanded inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, S Alaska, E of the Kenai peninsula. It has many bays and good harbors; the large Columbia Glacier flows into Columbia Bay, in the N central portion. Shipping is focused at the port of Valdez, which is the southern terminus of the trans-Alaskan pipeline linked to Prudhoe Bay. Access to the interior of the sound is by highway and railroad. Fishing, forestry, and some mining are prevalent activities in the area. Valdez and Cordova are the largest towns on the sound. On Mar. 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef nearby and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. Clean-up efforts ensued; however, much of the region's wildlife was killed or endangered as a result of the environmental disaster.

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Prince William Sound

Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, southern Alaska, U.S. It lies east of the Kenai Peninsula and spans 90–100 mi (145–160 km). It was named by the British captain George Vancouver in 1778 to honour a son of George III. In 1989 one of the largest oil spills in history occurred when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef and lost 10.9 million gallons of crude oil into the sound, with disastrous effects on its ecology.