Kachemak Bay

Kachemak Bay is a 64-km-long (40 mi) arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia and Kachemak are on the bay. The name derives from a Yupik term meaning "large cliff by the water". It was previously referred to as Chugachnik Gulf.

Features

Kachemak Bay is home to Alaska's only state wilderness park, Kachemak Bay State Park. Kachemak Bay State park was the first state park in Alaska.cite web
title = Kachemak Bay State Park and State Wilderness Park
publisher = Alaska Department of Natural Resources
date = 2008-04-02
url = http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/kbay/kbay.htm
accessdate =2008-08-19 ] There is no road access to the park; visitors must arrive by airplane or boat.

Kachemak Bay is also home to the Kachemak Bay Reserve, the largest reserve in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. [cite web
title = Kachemak Bay Reserve, Alaska
publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
date = 2006-05-02
url = http://www.nerrs.noaa.gov/KachemakBay/
accessdate = 2008-08-19] It is a very active site of research and education. The bay hosts a remarkably high level of biological activity, due in part to water circulation patterns which keep shellfish larve and nutrients in the bay. While surface waters push nutrients out into the bay, ocean currents push them back into the bay, creating a very fertile environment.cite web
title = Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area
publisher = Alaska Department of Fish & Game
url = http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=refuge.kachemak_bay
accessdate = 2008-08-19] Both fish and shellfish are abundant in the bay, year-round. Waterfowl and shorebirds occupy the bay during all but the winter season, while waterbirds and marine mammals including otters, seals, porpoise, and whales remain in the bay all year. The bay provides winter homes for 90% of the seabird and waterfowl populations of Lower Cook Inlet. Land mammals are frequently seen during the warmer seasons. Mink, coyote, fox, and bear are frequently seen.

The tides at Kachemak Bay are extreme, with an average vertical difference of fifteen feet (4.6m), and recorded extremes of twenty-eight feet (5.8m).

The Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College, an extension of the University of Alaska is located in Homer. The college awards two-year degrees and provides vocational training. [cite web
title = About KBC-KPC
publisher = Kenai Peninsula College, Kachemak Bay Campus
url = http://www.homer.alaska.edu/about/index.html
accessdate = 2008-08-19]

References