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Prince William Sound




Prince William Sound is a Sound of the Gulf Of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. State of Alaska . It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula . Its largest port is Valdez , at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System . Other settlements on the sound, which contains numerous small islands, include Cordova and Whittier .

Most of the land surrounding Prince William Sound is part of the Chugach National Forest , the second largest national forest in the U.S. Prince William Sound is ringed by the steep and glaciated Chugach Mountains . The coastline is a convoluted, with many islands and fjords, several of which contain Tidewater Glaciers .

Legend has it that George Vancouver named it in 1778 for the then-Prince William, who later became King William IV .

A 1964 Tsunami , a result of the Good Friday Earthquake , killed a number of Chugach villagers in the coastal village of Chenega , as well as destroying the town of Valdez .

In 1989 , the Oil Tanker '' Exxon Valdez '' ran aground on Bligh Reef after leaving Valdez, resulting in the ''Exxon Valdez'' Oil Spill . The spill resulted in massive damage to the Environment .


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