Amakdedulia Cove, Kamishak Bay

Amakdedulia Cove, Kamishak Bay

by | Feb 1, 2024

Amakdedulia Cove is an embayment about 2 miles (3.2 km) across on the western shore of Kamishak Bay in southwestern Cook Inlet, about 98 miles (158 km) northeast of King Salmon and 98 miles (158 km) southwest of Homer, Alaska. The name was reported in 1923 by K.F. Mather of the U.S. Geological Survey. Amakdedulia Cove is part of the McNeil River State Game Refuge established in 1991 to expand the protected area of the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. The sanctuary primarily protects brown bear habitat including other fish and wildlife that bears depend on for food.

The McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge protects about 248,000 acres (100,362 ha) of land. Of these, about 128,000 acres (51,799 ha) are in the sanctuary and 120,000 acres (48,562 ha) are in the refuge. The McNeil River runs through the middle part of the sanctuary north of Mikfik Creek and south of the Paint River drainage. The sanctuary is open to few activities other than wildlife viewing and camping and all hunting and fishing is prohibited. Within the refuge, fishing, sport hunting, and trapping are allowed except for the hunting of brown bears which is banned in both the sanctuary and refuge. The northern edge of the refuge lies about 50 miles (80 km) south of the southern boundary of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The refuge is bounded to the west by Katmai National Preserve and the southern and western parts of the sanctuary are bordered by the rest of Katmai National Park. Much of the land is treeless rolling tundra, but there are several mountainous areas in the southern part of the sanctuary. The only access is by boat or floatplane.

The tides in Kamishak Bay can exceed 16 feet (5 m) and at low water, in combination with a low slope gradient, extensive tidal flats become exposed. The tidal flats in Amakdedulia Cove are mostly rock platforms and mudflats. The rock platforms extend about 1 mile (1.6 km) from shore at low water providing a very large habitat for marine algae and invertebrates. However, the extreme air temperatures in summer and winter restrict the benthic populations to only those species that can tolerate the conditions. So while the biodiversity is generally low, the abundances can be very high. The high abundances of marine invertebrates support large populations of seaducks during the summer months. Shorebirds, gulls, and diving and dabbling ducks are also common. In April and May, the Pacific herring spawn on nearshore eelgrass beds. The eggs are an important food for birds and the fish are prey for harbor seals. Read more here and here. Explore more of Amakdedulia Cove here:

About the background graphic

This ‘warming stripe’ graphic is a visual representation of the change in global temperature from 1850 (top) to 2022 (bottom). Each stripe represents the average global temperature for one year. The average temperature from 1971-2000 is set as the boundary between blue and red. The color scale goes from -0.7°C to +0.7°C. The data are from the UK Met Office HadCRUT4.6 dataset. 

Credit: Professor Ed Hawkins (University of Reading). Click here for more information about the #warmingstripes.

Please report any errors here

error: Content is protected !!