Wildlife Viewing

Near Homer

Where

On the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula, 225 road miles from Anchorage, with access to islands in Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, and the Gulf of Alaska.

How to Get There

There is road access from Anchorage (225 miles) and several flights a day from Anchorage.

Home Base

Start your wildlife viewing experience at the refuge’s headquarters, Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center. Trails on the center site access slough and beach habitats utilized in season by seabirds, shorebirds, waterfowl and moose.

Many Tours

Many tour boats heading to Seldovia and Otter Cove on the far shore of Kachemak Bay enroute will visit the waters off 60-Foot Rock, home to a great concentration of sea otters and 500 seabirds.

A kayak company shows visitors marine life around Yukon Island, circumnavigating the island to view seals, eagles, and in many years, a peregrine falcon.

Gull Island hosts 15,000 seabirds representing eight species, including puffins, murres, and cormorants. Although the island is not part of the Alaska Maritime Refuge, it is one of the most accessible seabird colonies in Alaska -- only a few miles from the Homer boat harbor and visited by many tour boats and water-taxis.

Ferry to Kodiak

Homer is the embarkation point for ferries to Kodiak and, once a month, out the Alaska Peninsula to Dutch Harbor. A refuge naturalist offers programs and wildlife viewing help on summer trips. Enroute to Kodiak, the ferry passes through the Barren Islands, largest seabird colony in the northern Gulf of Alaska.

Highlights - Not so "Barren" Islands

An estimated half million birds nest on the Barren Islands, including fork-tailed storm-petrels, puffins, parakeet auklets, ancient murrelets, murres and kittiwakes. The productive waters around the Barren Islands attract humpback whales and sometimes tens of thousands of shearwaters that nest in Australia during our winter and fly to Alaska waters for their off-season, our summer.

Cook Inlet Seabird Colonies

Across Cook Inlet from Ninilchik lie the seldom-visited Chisik and Duck islands with diverse seabird colonies. No public transport is currently available.

LINKS to learn more

Bird List
Look Closer - Barren Islands
Visitor Services

Last updated:September 8, 2008