Homer Spit
Encyclopedia
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
located in Homer, Alaska
Homer, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...
on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula
Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west.-Geography:...
. The spit
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
is a 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long piece of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay
Kachemak Bay
Kachemak Bay is a 64-km-long arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia, Nanwalek, Port Graham, and Kachemak City are on the bay as well as three Old Believer settlements in the Fox River...
. The spit is also home to the Homer Boat Harbor. The harbor contains both deep and shallow water docks and serves up to 1500 commercial and pleasure boats at its summer peak. Additional features and attractions include The Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon, which is an artificial "fishing hole", campgrounds, hotels, and restaurants and the Salty Dawg Saloon
Salty Dawg Saloon
The Salty Dawg Saloon is a famous landmark on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska.-History:The Salty Dawg originally was one of the first cabins built in Homer in 1897, soon after the establishment of the town site. It served as the first post office, a railroad station, a grocery store, and a coal...
, which is constructed out of several historic buildings from Homer. Hundreds of eagles have gathered there in winter to be fed by Jean Keene
Jean Keene
Jean Keene , also known as the Eagle Lady, was a former rodeo trick rider who became the subject of national attention due to her feeding of wild bald eagles on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. Although she had many supporters for the feedings, she was also criticized for drawing a large population...
, the "Eagle Lady". The Spit features the longest road into ocean waters in the entire world, taking up 10–15 minutes to cover by car.
History
Two different theories postulate that the spit originates either from the tidal swells and currents of Cook InletCook Inlet
Cook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
and Kachemak Bay
Kachemak Bay
Kachemak Bay is a 64-km-long arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia, Nanwalek, Port Graham, and Kachemak City are on the bay as well as three Old Believer settlements in the Fox River...
over a millennia of sand buildup, or that it was pushed into place by now-retreated glaciers. In 1899, the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company laid a railroad track along the spit, connecting the docks to the coal fields along Kachemak Bay. The resulting business led to the development of what eventually became Homer, Alaska. In the 1960s, several hippies, known as "spit rats", traveled from all around to camp on the Homer Spit, many of them becoming successful commercial fishermen over time. The 1964 Alaska earthquake shrank it to 508 acres (2.1 km²), and killed most of the vegetation, making it today mostly gravel and sand.
Nick Dudiak Fishing Lagoon
This artificial lagoon is known locally as the "fishing hole". Every spring it stocked with salmon fry from the Trail LakesTrail Lakes
The Trail Lakes are two lakes on the lower Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The lakes are near the town of Moose Pass and adjacent to the Seward Highway. They are noted for being the home of a large salmon hatchery owned by the state of Alaska and operated by the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association...
hatchery facility. The fry are fed by volunteers so that they will imprint on the location in the normal manner of salmon. They then proceed to live normal lives as wild salmon, returning as adults to the lagoon due to their instinctual desire to mate and spawn. The lagoon is a popular attraction for both tourists and locals, as it is an easily accessible and inexpensive salmon fishery. There is even a ramp for those who have to use wheelchairs. During the summer months it can become very crowded if there is an active salmon run occurring, and there is additional competition from harbor seals who often enter the lagoon to chase salmon. The official name is a tribute to the biologist from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of Alaska. The Department of Fish and Game manages Alaska's fish, game, and aquatic plant resources.-History:...
who proposed the idea and managed the project.
Potential threats
The spit sits about 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, making it susceptible to storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
. The United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
have stated that a violent enough storm could generate waves of over 30 feet (9.1 m). Tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
s are also a known threat. An explosion from the nearby Augustine Volcano
Augustine Volcano
Augustine Volcano is a Lava Dome Complex on Augustine Island in southwestern Cook Inlet in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of southcentral coastal Alaska, southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Volcano Observatory currently rates Mount Augustine as Level of Concern Color Code Green for aviation and the...
could bring a giant wave to the Spit within minutes, giving residents very little time to react. However, most tsunamis from other areas in the ocean would probably give Spit-dwellers enough time to get to safety, due to the early warning system operated by the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WC/ATWC) in Palmer, Alaska
Palmer, Alaska
Palmer is the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the state of Alaska, USA. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,937....
. Erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
of the Spit has also been a developing problem over the years, as the ocean side is exposed to heavy waves.
