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Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

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Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Extending along most of the 47,300 miles of Alaska's coastline is the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, a mind-boggling assortment of more than 2,500 islands, islets, spires, rocks, reefs, waters and headlands that are home to 40 million seabirds, representing more than 30 species.

The refuge's 4.9 million acres include the spectacular volcanic islands of the Aleutian chain, the seabird cliffs of the remote Pribilofs, and icebound lands washed by the Chukchi Sea. It consists of five separate units and ranges from Forrester Island near Canada's Queen Charlotte Islands to the westernmost tip of the Aleutians and north to Cape Lisburne on the Arctic Ocean. No other maritime refuge in America is as large or as productive.

The Gulf of Alaska Unit contains scattered small islands extending along 800 miles of coast from Southeast Alaska's rainforests across the arc of Prince William Sound and the fjord-edged Kenai Peninsula to islets off Kodiak Island. The Alaska Peninsula Unit extends more than 400 miles along the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula from just west of Kodiak Island to the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. The Aleutian Islands Unit extends more than 1,100 miles in a chain of volcanic islands from Unimak Island at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula westward to Attu Island.

The Bering Sea Unit extends more than 600 miles from islands and lands on Norton Sound along the Seward Peninsula to islands far into the Bering Sea and the Pribilof Islands, the best place to watch marine birds and mammals from land on the refuge. The Chukchi Sea Unit contains scattered islands, spits and mainland areas extending along 500 miles of coast from southwest of Barrow on the Arctic Ocean and includes the mountainous mainland area and sea cliffs of Cape Lisburne and Cape Thompson at the western end of the Brooks Range.

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Map

Facilities
Although the wildlife viewing is excellent, access is difficult and visitor facilities are sparse throughout most of the refuge. There are, however, a number of places located near towns that have become popular destinations with birders and other wildlife enthusiasts.

In Homer is the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center (907-235-6961; www.islandsandocean.org). Dedicated in 2004, this impressive visitor center features interactive exhibits including a room that's a replica seabird colony, complete with cacophonous bird calls and surround-view flocking. The center also offers educational programs and guided walks along trails that access slough and beach habitats utilized in season by seabirds and shorebirds.

Homer is also the site of the annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. Held in early May each year to celebrate the return of huge flocks of migrating shorebirds, the four-day festival is Alaska's largest wildlife festival and offers guided bird walks, viewing stations, workshops, boat viewing tours and many other activities. Homer-based boat tours offer birding excursions in Kachemak Bay or you can hop the Alaska Marine Highway ferry for Kodiak and along the way pass through the Barren Islands, part of the refuge and the largest seabird colony in the northern Gulf of Alaska.

Also on the Kenai Peninsula, the Chiswell Islands are accessible from Seward. The rugged and rocky Chiswell Islands rise from the Gulf of Alaska at the mouth of Resurrection Bay and are the most visited seabird colonies of the refuge. Many boat tours include the Chiswell Islands as well as portions of the Kenai Fjords National Park to view calving glaciers, nesting bald eagles, seals and sea otters. In Southeast Alaska more than a dozen charter boats tours provide visitors easy access to St. Lazaria Island from Sitka. More than 500,000 seabirds nest on this 65-acre island, including 1,500 pairs of breeding tufted puffins.

The Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea are home to myriad seabirds and the northern fur seal. Sometimes referred to as the 'Galapagos of the North,' these islands are a mad scene each summer as a million fur seals swim ashore to breed and raise their young, the largest gathering of sea mammals in the world. The islands' ocean-cliffs are also home to extensive bird rookeries. More than 2.5 million seabirds ranging from common murres and crested auklets to tufted puffins and cormorants nest here, making the Pribilofs the largest seabird colony in the Northern Hemisphere. Visitor services are available on both St. Paul and St. George islands with several flights a week from Anchorage. Several small cruise ships offer itineraries that include the Pribilofs.

Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor is the gateway to refuge lands on Unalaska Island and the rest of the Aleutians with scheduled jet service from Anchorage and once a month ferry service in summer. Spectacularly craggy cliffs, sea stacks, pinnacles and snow-topped volcanoes make up the scenery while rare whiskered auklet colonies along with countless other birds offer entertainment. Near Nome lies Safety Sound, a unique mainland birding hot spot with road access from Nome. Many commercial birding tours visit Nome, especially in late May to see the thousands of migratory birds that descend on the area each year.

Fees
There are no fees, although in some areas where crossing Native lands is required, a fee may be required by the Native corporation or organization.

Accessibility
Most of the refuge is remote and access is usually by boat. The most visited areas of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge are highlighted in the previous section. For more detailed information and planning assistance, contact the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge headquarters (907-235-6546; www.alaskamaritime.fws.gov) at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in Homer.