SHOWING OFF We're here to help you show off the Seattle area to your summertime visitors — and teach even you locals a few things. Other ways to show off: A world-class skyscraper Floating a few facts on the state's ferries More ...

By Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporter

Perched like gigantic, orange insects on and near Harbor Island are 25 cranes that together moved 1.3 million shipping containers through the Port of Seattle last year. The largest of those monsters stands 230 feet tall and can lift up to 56 tons.

Got vertigo? If so, running a crane may not be the job for you. Crane operators along the Seattle waterfront sit up to 17 stories above the dock in steel-and-glass cabs that let them look down at cargo and ships, some so wide they can't fit through the 110-foot locks of the Panama Canal.

	ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES
	These huge cranes at the Port of Seattle load and unload goods from all over the world. The cabs slide along booms extending up to 165 feet out.

What's in the box? Top categories of stuff arriving here in containers last year were clothing ($3.26 billion), office machines and parts ($1.5 billion), auto parts ($1.3 billion), video/computer games ($1.3 billion).

What we sent: Top exports were industrial equipment ($476 million), meat ($437 million), inorganic chemicals ($437 million) and frozen seafood ($395 million).

Where we rank: Seattle is the eighth-largest container port in North America and fifth on the West Coast, where ports topping us are Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and, by a slight margin, Tacoma.

Take a look: A good place to view waterfront action is Jack Block Public Shoreline Access and Park, 3443 W. Marginal Way S.W., with paths for pedestrians and bicycles.

Try your hand? If you're ready to take over the controls of a big crane, the safest place to try is on a couple of interactive exhibits at Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center at Pier 66, www.ody.org.