Studying the Alaskan Coast in Peterson Bay

Having arrived in Homer, Alaska, we wanted some unique educational experience to help us learn about Katchemak Bay and the ecology of the area before we started to explore more deeply by hiking.  Doing a little research, we found the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, whose mission is to foster responsible interaction with the natural surroundings and to generate knowledge of the unique marine and coastal ecosystems of Kachemak Bay through science-based environmental education and stewardship.  The Center also works to provide the public and decision-makers with science-based information on critical environmental issues.  As part of its mission, it offers tours of the coastal region in Peterson Bay, across Katchemak Bay from Homer.

On Tuesday, June 28, 2016, we caught a water taxi early in the morning to begin our full day experience on the other shore of the bay.  The morning dawned cloudy but the bay waters were calm - almost like mercury:

Here's a photo of Kathy on the water taxi, with Homer receding in the background:

It wasn't long before we debarked at the CACS facility in Peterson Bay - a building originally built by a local dentist as a residence, but which he donated for this charitable and educational purpose when his wife passed away:

Few places in the world have as rich a living laboratory as Peterson Bay Field Station. A rustic building on the edge of the wilderness, it is accessible only by boat from Homer.

The rich intertidal areas of Peterson and China Poot Bays are known for the diversity of life exposed by extreme tides and are a short distance from the front door. Trails wind through the coastal forest at the back door. The area teems with wildlife, including a diversity of sea stars, octopus, red squirrels, black bears, harbor seals, sea otters, and a myriad of land and seabirds.

The two-story main building contains a central room, mud room and a small kitchen. Upstairs, two small bedrooms provide private sleeping areas for CACS staff and volunteers. The central upstairs room serves as a basic laboratory, with microscopes, including a videoscope. downstairs. The central room is a beehive of activity. Summer tour guests use it for orientation, eating lunch and relaxing. Outside, a wraparound deck provides educational space for group activities and viewing of marine life in aquaria and live tanks with continual flow of salt water from Peterson Bay. These are well-stocked so visitors can enjoy the intertidal zone without leaving the deck of the building when tides are too high to walk on the beach.

As our boat docked at the Center, we were greeted by our host, naturalist Laura, who would be our guide and interpreter for the day. Sometimes as many as a dozen people will participate in these tours, but it was our luck that we were the only visitors this day, so we had Laura all to ourselves!

She was very knowledgeable and personable.  Having just recently graduated from college as an ecology major, she was thrilled to have this naturalist job, in which she offers tours and educational programs for visitors, and also participates in studies and data collection for various researchers and governmental agencies.

Our morning focused on the ecology of the coastal lands in the area.  Here, Kathy and Laura chat as we get ready to set out up into the local forest:

Kathy was most excited to note that our first observation of local flora was her beloved blueberry!

We also spotted some interesting fun guys on the trail:

Laura explained which species of plants and animals are native to this environment and why they thrive here.  She also showed us the site of a native homestead, the remains of a partially subterranean shelter, perched in a strategic location with a view of the bay and access to water and food.

After the morning hike, we returned to the center, where Laura took us up to the lab and let us examine a sample of water from the bay which she drew herself.  We used the microscopy lab to examine and distinguish various phytoplankton (simply, plant plankton) and zooplankton (animal plankton).  She helped us understand the roles of these life forms as the base of the food chain in this environment.

After our lab session and lunch, we set out across the estuarial lands to the water's edge to discover some of the animal life that inhabits the margins of the bay:

Laura found and showed us an example of a crab's molt - the entire exoskeleton of the crab, which it sheds as it gets too large for it, and then grows another larger one:

We found skeletal remains of local sea urchins:

In the tide pools, Laura located and identified various animals for us, such as this rare starfish --

-- and a stranded jellyfish --

-- as well as a segmented chiton, a holdover from prehistoric times:

This fellow was most interesting.  You are looking at the foot of a rock-boring clam, who actually burrows into rock:

Here is but one of many, widely varied starfish we saw in the pools and in the Center's collection tanks:

We had a chance to chat at length with Laura and her naturalist partner Nina about their work at the Center.  They keep a blog on their discoveries, which you can read here.  The time passed in an instant, and it seemed too soon that we were boarding our water taxi again for the ride back to Homer Spit.

On the way back, our captain swung us by Gull Island, home to innumerable nesting gulls, terns and cormorant, as well as an odd sea otter or two:

We were there at the height of the nesting season, so one of the island's rocks was jammed full of these wingy creatures, nesting and making a natural ruckus:

We walked much more than we had expected to, and by the end of the day, we felt we had gotten quite a hike as well as an education.  We felt well-armed for our hike the next day up through similar wooded environments toward Grewingk Glacier!