{{Short description|Bay in the southwestern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Kachemak Bay | native_name = {{native name|tfn|Tika Kaq'}} | image = [[File:Sunrise on Kachemak Bay.jpg|250px]] | caption = Kachemak Bay at sunrise, 2009 | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = [[Kenai Peninsula]], [[Alaska]] | coords = {{coord|59|36|33|N|151|20|51|W|region:US-AK_type:waterbody|display=title,inline}} | inflow = [[Fox River (Alaska)|Fox River]], Sheep River, Grewingk River, Wosnesenski River, Seldovia River, Bradley River, Portlock River, Martin River, English Bay River | type = [[Bay]] | outflow = | pushpin_map = Alaska | catchment = | basin_countries = United States | length = {{convert|40|mi|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|6|mi|abbr=on}} | depth = {{convert|150|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kachemakbaywatertrail.org/life-environment.htm|title=The Natural Environment of Kachemak Bay}}</ref> | max-depth = {{convert|576|ft|abbr=on}} | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | frozen = | islands = Chugachik Island, Bear Island, Ismailof Island, San Juan Island, Herring Islands, Cohen Island, Yukon Island, Hesketh Island, Grass Island, Powder Island, Gull Island, Mermaid Island | sections = Bear Cove, Mallard Bay, Aurora Lagoon, Halibut Cove, Halibut Cove Lagoon, Peterson Bay, China Poot Bay, Neptune Bay, Sadie Cove, Eldred Passage, Tutka Bay, Little Tutka Bay, Jakolof Bay, Kasitsna Bay, Seldovia Bay, Port Graham, English Bay | cities = [[Homer, Alaska|Homer]], [[Halibut Cove, Alaska|Halibut Cove]], [[Seldovia, Alaska|Seldovia]], [[Nanwalek, Alaska|Nanwalek]], [[Port Graham, Alaska|Port Graham]], [[Kachemak, Alaska|Kachemak City]], [[Fox River, Alaska|Fox River]] [[Voznesenka, Alaska|Voznesenka]], [[Kachemak Selo]], [[Razdolna]] }}
'''Kachemak Bay''' ([[Denaʼina language|Dena'ina]]: ''Tika Kaq’'') is a 40-mi-long (64 km) arm of [[Cook Inlet]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Alaska]], located on the southwest side of the [[Kenai Peninsula]]. The communities of [[Homer, Alaska|Homer]], [[Halibut Cove, Alaska|Halibut Cove]], [[Seldovia, Alaska|Seldovia]], [[Nanwalek, Alaska|Nanwalek]], [[Port Graham, Alaska|Port Graham]], and [[Kachemak, Alaska|Kachemak City]] are on the bay as well as three [[Old Believer]] settlements in the [[Fox River, Alaska|Fox River]] area, [[Voznesenka, Alaska|Voznesenka]], [[Kachemak Selo]], and [[Razdolna]].
One interpretation of the word "Kachemak" is "Smokey Bay" which supposedly is from an Alutiiq word describing the smoldering coal seams that used to fill the bay with smoke.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Klein|first1=Janet|title=A History of Kachemak Bay the Country, the Communities|date=1981|publisher=Homer Society of Natural History|location=Homer, Alaska| page=39|edition=Third Printing 1987}}</ref>
==Features== {{stack|[[File:Kachemak1.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Fishing boats on Kachemak Bay]]}} 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.<ref name=park>{{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 | archive-date = 2008-07-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080718185116/http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/kbay/kbay.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> There is no road access to most of the park; visitors must arrive by airplane or boat. [[file:Gullislandeagle.jpg|thumb|left|A juvenile bald eagle (at top of the photo) is hunting at a Gull Island bird rookery. In the foreground are visitors observing seabirds. May 2011]] Kachemak Bay is also home to the [[Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve]], the largest [[National Estuarine Research Reserve|reserve]] in the [[National Estuarine Research Reserve System]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Kachemak National Estuarine Research Reserve | publisher = NOAA Office for Coastal Management | date = 2024-02-21 | url = https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/reserves/kachemak-bay.html | accessdate = 2024-02-21 }}</ref> 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 [[larva]]e 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.<ref name=habitat>{{cite web | title = Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area | publisher = Alaska Department of Fish & Game | url = https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=species.main | access-date = 2008-08-19}}</ref> Both [[fish]] and [[shellfish]] are abundant in the bay, year-round. [[Anseriformes|Waterfowl]] and [[Wader|shorebirds]] occupy the bay during all but the winter season, while [[water bird]]s and [[Marine mammal|marine mammals]] including [[otter]]s, [[Pinniped|seal]]s, [[porpoise]], and [[whale]]s remain in the bay all year. The bay provides winter homes for 90% of the [[seabird]] and waterfowl populations of Lower Cook Inlet.<ref name=habitat /> [[Moose]], [[coyote]], and [[bear]]s are frequently seen in warmer months.
The [[tides]] at Kachemak Bay are extreme, with an average vertical difference (also called mean range) of {{cvt|15.53|ft|m}}, and recorded extremes of {{cvt|31.72|ft|m}} as measured at the Seldovia Tide Station. The highest tide on record is {{cvt|25.25|ft|m}} above [[MLLW]] (mean lower low water) and occurred on November 15, 1966. The lowest tide on record is {{cvt|-6.4|ft|m}} from MLLW and occurred on April 27, 2002.<ref>{{cite web | title = Seldovia Tide Station ID: 94555001 | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | date = 2011-04-10 | url = http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/data_menu.shtml?stn=9455500%20Seldovia,%20AK&type=Datums/ | accessdate = 2011-04-10}}</ref> {{stack|[[File:Kachemak bay.jpg|thumb|right|Fog bank over Kachemak Bay]]}}
==See also== *[[Kachemak Bay Campus]] *[[Kachemak Bay State Park]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Bays of Alaska]] [[Category:Bodies of water of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska]]