Cook Inlet

Turnagain Arm in Cook Inlet

Cook Inlet

The Cook Inlet is a bay in the Gulf of Alaska, which separates the Kenai Peninsula from the mainland of Alaska. It has a length of 310 km and branches at the northeastern end in Anchorage, Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm.

James Cook sailed in 1778 in search of the Northwest Passage was the first European in the bay, which was named in 1794 by George Vancouver after him. Having already the Knik Arm had turned out just as estuary and not as access to the Northwest Passage, William Bligh was the Turnagain Arm his name, because this branch of the bay ends only in an estuary and the expedition had to turn back again ( = turn again).

The Turnagain Arm is one of only about 60 bays in the world in which forms a tidal wave. On the North American continent, it is only in the Bay of Fundy to a larger tidal range than the up to ten meters which are reached in the Turnagain Arm. In the Inlet itself the tidal range can be up to eight meters.

The Inlet is hydrological catchment area for a range of about 100,000 sq. km east of the Aleutian Islands and south of the Alaska Range and is among others fed by the rivers Susitna and Matanuska. Also, the melt water from Mount McKinley flows into the Inlet. In addition to Anchorage there with Homer a second place seaport calling the passenger ships. The Port of Kenai is only for oil shipping.

On the west side of the inlet are the Chigmit Mountains with the 3108 m high Mount Redoubt, one of the most active volcanoes of Alaska. 50 km further south is the only insignificantly lower volcano Mount Iliamna. In the northwest the Tordrillo Mountains lie to the volcano, Mount Spurr.

In Cook Inlet, a genetically and geographically isolated beluga population has developed, whose stock had fallen by environmental influences on only about 400 animals. Since 2000, protective measures are in force.