Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from Kabuch Point on the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to Cape Spencer in the east, where Glacier Bay is found and the Inside Passage begins. The shoreline is a combination of forest, mountain, and numerous tidewater glaciers, with Alaska’s largest glaciers—the Malaspina and Bering—spilling onto the coast. The coastline is heavily indented by Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, the two largest connected bodies of water, and also includes Yakutat Bay.

Lituya Bay, a fjord north of Cross Sound and south of Mount Fairweather, is the site of the largest recorded tsunami in history and provides a sheltered anchorage for fishing boats. The Gulf is classified as a Class I, productive ecosystem, generating more than 300 grams of carbon per square meter per year based on SeaWiFS data. Deep water corals, particularly Primnoa pacifica, are found here between depths of 150 and 900 meters, leading to the area being designated a Habitat Area of Particular Concern. The North Pacific Current, fed by the warm Kuroshio Current, keeps the Gulf ice-free throughout the year.

Meteorology

In 1977, the Gulf experienced an unexpected shift in its climate regime, resulting in a rise in mean sea surface temperature and an increase in the availability and variety of commercial fish species, a volatile change also observed in other North Pacific seas during the 1970s. The Gulf is a major generator of storms, dumping vast quantities of snow and ice on southern Alaska—creating some of the largest snow concentrations south of the Arctic Circle—and sending many storms south along the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and as far as Southern California, especially during El Niño events. Much of the seasonal rainfall and snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern United States originates from this region.