If viewing and learning about glaciers is high on your priority list during your Alaska vacation, there is no better place to be than Prince William Sound. Not only does this region boast more tidewater glaciers than anywhere in the world, but it also offers incredible opportunities to view breathtaking scenery and diverse wildlife.

Prince William Sound is accessible from the coastal towns of Whittier, Valdez and Cordova. Sightseeing cruise ships depart daily in summer months (May through September) and offer various tours that range from six to nine-hours in length.

These tour boats bring you face to face with tremendous tidewater glaciers. One spectacular highlight of these tours is when these enormous glaciers calve. Calving occurs when pressure from the glacier moving forward causes large chunks of ice to crack and fall into the sea. These chunks of ice often weigh thousands of pounds and can be the size of a bus.

Most all of these tour boats include an on-board naturalist to explain key aspects of the glaciology, geography, and flora and fauna of the region. These tours are typically as educational as they are entertaining.

Listed below are some interesting statistics and factoids about Alaska glaciers.

Glacier Facts:

Glacier Blue:
When sunlight passes through glacial ice it is bent and separated into all of the colors of the rainbow - much like light passing through a prism. Glacier ice crystals are bent, stretched and distorted from the immense weight and downward movement of the glacier itself. Light is refracted multiple times as it passes through the ice, letting only the highest light wavelengths completely escape the ice crystals. Since blue is the highest energy wavelength of visible light, glaciers appear blue.

Ice Worms:
Ice Worms are the only known creatures that spend their entire lives covered in ice. Ice worms are tiny, roughly three quarters of an inch in length. They are similar to common earthworms. Ice worms feed on wind blown pollens and algae that blow onto the glaciers from the surrounding mountains.
Ice worms need to stay inside a very specific temperature range to survive, ideally 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A few degrees warmer and they disintegrate - a few degrees colder…and they freeze.

Glacier Terminology

Calving: When large chunks of ice break from a glacier and fall into the ocean. Cirque Glacier: A glacier that hangs in or alongside a steep mountain.

Crevass: A deep open fracture on the surface of a glacier. Fjord or Fiord: A narrow inlet of the sea bordered by steep cliffs formed by glaciers as they advance and retreat.

Glacier: A body of natural, land born ice, where snow and ice accumulation is greater than its loss. An immense field or stream of ice, formed in a region of perpetual snow, and moving slowly down a mountain slope or valley.

Ice Field: A sheet of glacier ice that collects in a mountain range or between adjoining ranges.

Moraine: A ridge or mound of stony debris and ground rock left by a receding glacier.

Nunatak: An Eskimo word meaning "Lonely Peak." An island of bedrock projecting above glacier ice.

Piedmont Glacier: A glacier that terminates on land rather than in the ocean.

Striations: Linear, fine parallel scratches cut into a rock surface by debris carried by a glacier.

Tide Water Glacier: A glacier that terminates in the sea. Alpine or Hanging Glacier: The remains of ice and snow that has retreated into a high mountain valley.

How to get to Valdez
The trip to Valdez is a scenic adventure in itself. Driving from Anchorage, Fairbanks or Tok, you'll be treated to spectacular vistas of the Chugach and Wrangell mountain ranges. Or you can take a quick, 40-minute flight from Anchorage or Fairbanks and enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery in Alaska from the air. Typical one-way fares from Anchorage by air run $100; from Anchorage by motorcoach, $65. Airfare from Fairbanks averages $150 round trip.

How to get to Whittier
Whittier is located at the head of Passage Canal in Prince William Sound, 75 scenic miles southeast of Anchorage. If you're driving from Anchorage to Whittier to play in Prince William Sound, you'll need to negotiate the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel-the longest highway tunnel in North America. When this World War II railroad tunnel was opened to car traffic in 2000, it meant you no longer needed to get on a train to access Prince William Sound. However, the one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be aired out in between trips.
    If you have a cruise departure to make, here are a few important travel tips: