Prince William Sound Environmental Milestones: from 1989 Disaster to Today
Based in the coastal town of Cordova, the Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC) was founded in 1989 to address fundamental gaps in cold-water oceanography. Before the tanker grounding, scientists lacked accurate baseline data regarding currents, zooplankton shifts, and fish stocks in the region. Without baseline figures, quantifying damage in court and planning real recovery proved exceptionally difficult.
PWSSC research teams now use real-time acoustic arrays, ocean gliders, and satellite tracking to monitor the interaction between returning wild pink salmon and hatchery-spawned varieties. Cordova's commercial fishing community relies on these hydroacoustic assessments to predict runs accurately. Furthermore, the center’s ongoing environmental risk assessment programs track shifts in the North Pacific pelagic food chain, studying how warming surface temperatures compound the legacy effects of toxic crude on localized marine life.
