The Gulf of Alaska (

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

defined by the curve of the southern coast of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq language, Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is ...

in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found. The Gulf shoreline is a combination of forest, mountain and a number of

tidewater glacier The tidewater glacier cycle is the typically centuries-long behavior of tidewater glaciers that consists of recurring periods of advance alternating with rapid retreat and punctuated by periods of stability. During portions of its cycle, a tidewate ...

s. Alaska's largest glaciers, the Malaspina Glacier and Bering Glacier, spill out onto the coastal line along the Gulf of Alaska. The coast is heavily indented with

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( tfn, Tikahtnu; Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') 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. On its ...

and Prince William Sound, the two largest connected bodies of water. It includes Yakutat Bay and

Cross Sound Cross Sound is a passage in the Alexander Archipelago in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska, located between Chichagof Island to its south and the mainland to its north. It is long and extends from the Gulf of Alaska to Icy ...

. Lituya Bay (a fjord north of Cross Sound, and south of Mount Fairweather) is the site of the largest recorded

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

in history. It serves as a sheltered anchorage for fishing boats.

Ecology

The Gulf of Alaska is considered a Class I, productive ecosystem with more than 300 grams of carbon per square meter per year based on SeaWiFS data. Deep water

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

s can be found in the Gulf of Alaska. ''

Primnoa pacifica ''Primnoa pacifica'' or red tree coral is a species of soft coral in the family Primnoidae. It is a deep water coral found in the North Pacific Ocean, and plays an integral role in supporting benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region ...

'' has contributed to the location being labeled as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern. ''P. pacifica'' is a deep water coral typically found between and here. Thanks to

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Uni ...

, while the Okhotsk Sea was "closed by ice in winter", just 10° further north, the "Gulf of Alaska was ice-free throughout the year". In 1977, the Gulf of Alaska started to manifest an unexpected and at that time inexplicable shift on its normal climate regime, resulting in a growth of the mean temperature of the sea surface and in an increased availability and variety of commercial fish species. A similar volatile

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

was observed during the 1970s in the North Pacific seas.

Meteorology

The Gulf is a great generator of

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

s. In addition to dumping vast quantities of snow and ice on southern Alaska, resulting in some of the largest concentrations south of the Arctic Circle, many of the storms move south along the coasts of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Washington,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

, and as far south as

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

(primarily during

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date ...

events). Much of the seasonal rainfall and snowfall in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

comes from the Gulf of Alaska.

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters ...

defines the limits of the Gulf of Alaska as follows:

''On the north.'' The coast of
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
. ''On the south.'' A line drawn from Cape Spencer, the northern limit of the Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia to Kabuch Point, the southeast limit of the
Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Amer ...
, in such a way that all the adjacent islands are included in the Gulf of Alaska.

The US Geological Survey's

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

database defines the Gulf of Alaska as bounded on the north by the coast of Alaska and on the south by a line running from the south end of

on the west to

Dixon Entrance The Dixon Entrance (french: Entrée Dixon) is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part o ...

on the east.

Islands

* Admiralty Island * Afognak Island * Aghiyuk Island *

Aiaktalik Island Aiaktalik Island is an island located in the Gulf of Alaska approximately south of Kodiak Island Kodiak Island ( Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by t ...

Akun Island Akun Island ( ale, Akungan) is one of the Fox Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands in the Aleutians East Borough of southwestern Alaska. Geography The island lies east of Akutan Island and southwest of Unimak Island, across the Unimak Pas ...

Akutan Island Akutan Island ( ale, Akutanax̂; russian: Акутан) is an inhabited island in the Fox Islands group of the eastern Aleutian Islands in the Aleutians East Borough of Alaska. Geography The island is approximately 18 mi (30 km) in ...

* Aleutika Island *

Amaknak Island Amaknak Island (russian: Амакнак) or Umaknak Island ( ale, Amaxnax̂; russian: Умакнак) is the most populated island in the Aleutian Islands, an archipelago which is part of the U.S. state of Alaska. Geography Amaknak is an islet ...

* Adronica Island *

Annette Island Annette Island or ''Taak'w Aan'' (Tlingit) is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at . It is about long and about wide. The land area ...

* Anyaka Island *

Ariadne Island Ariadne (; grc-gre, Ἀριάδνη; la, Ariadne) was a Cretan princess in Greek mythology. She was mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and Theseus. She is best known for having ...

Augustine Island Augustine Volcano (Sugpiaq: ''Utakineq'';https://uafanlc.alaska.edu/Online/G977K1985a/G977K1985a_02.PDF Dena'ina: ''Chu Nula'') is a lava dome volcano in Alaska consisting of a central complex of summit lava domes and flows surrounded by an apr ...

Avatanak Island Avatanak Island ( ale, Agutanax̂; russian: Аватанак) is the second-largest (with a length of 10 mi) of the Krenitzin Islands, a subgroup of the Fox Islands in the eastern Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. It lies southeas ...

* Baker Island * Ban Island *

Baranof Island Baranof Island is an island in the northern Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle, in Alaska. The name Baranof was given in 1805 by Imperial Russian Navy captain U. F. Lisianski to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov. It was called ...

Beautiful Isle Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai- ...

* Bell Island *

Benjamin Island Benjamin Island (Spanish ''Isla Benjamin'') is an island in the Chonos Archipelago of Chile. See also * List of islands of Chile External links Islands of Chile @ United Nations Environment ProgrammeWorld island information @ WorldIslandInfo.com ...

Biorka Island Biorka Island is an island near Sitka, Alaska. The National Weather Service has a radar there. The island is also a popular spot to watch sealions. Thus, a 2005 proposal by the State of Alaska to give a parcel of on the island to the University of ...

* Bligh Island * Chat Island * Chenega Island *

Chichagof Island Chichagof Island (russian: Остров Чичагова), or Shee Kaax, is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States an ...

* Chisik Island * Chiswell Island(s) * Chowiet Island * Coronation Island *

Cronin Island The Chevron Island is an urban island that lies in the Nerang River and is a neighbourhood within the suburb of Surfers Paradise in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. History Chevron Island is a natural island previously known ...

Culross Island Culross Island is an island near the western end of Prince William Sound of the Gulf of Alaska in Alaska, United States. It lies just off the Northeast corner of the Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large penin ...

* Dall Island * Deer Island *

Doggie Island The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative ...

Dolgoi Island Dolgoi Island (Anganax̂six̂) is the largest of the Pavlof Islands lying off the southwest coast of the state of Alaska in the United States. It has a land area of 107.4 km2 (41.47 sq mi) and is uninhabited. All of the Pavlof Islands are part ...

Douglas Island Douglas Island is a tidal island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the city and borough of Juneau, just west of downtown Juneau and east of Admiralty Island. It is separated from mainland Juneau by the Gastineau Channel, and contains the ...

* Duke Island *

East Chugach Island East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

* Egg Island * Egg Island(s) * Eldred Rock *

Eleanor Island Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal dialect, Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. ...

Elizabeth Island Elizabeth Island may refer to: * Elizabeth Island (Alaska) * Elizabeth Island, Bahamas * Elizabeth Island, Bermuda * Elizabeth Island (Georgian Bay) * Elizabeth Island, Michigan * Elizabeth Island, New Zealand * Elizabeth Island (Victoria) * Elizab ...

* Erlington Island * Esther Island * Etolin Island * Fish Island *

Fitzgerald Island The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Normans, Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been Peerage of Ireland, peers of Ireland since at least the 13t ...

* Forrester Island * Goloi Island * Granite Island * Gravina Island * Green Island *

Gregson Island Gregson is a surname. People *Alf Gregson (1889–1968), English footballer *Edward Gregson (born 1945), English composer *John Gregson (1919–1975), English actor *Joseph Gelson Gregson (1835–1909), a Baptist preacher from England who worked wi ...

* Gull Island *

Haenke Island Haenke Island is an island located in Disenchantment Bay in Alaska. It was named in 1791 by Alessandro Malaspina for Thaddäus Haenke Thaddeus Xaverius Peregrinus Haenke (5 October 1761 – 4 November 1816) ( cs, Tadeáš Haenke; es, Tadeo Hae ...

* Harbor Island *

Hawkins Island Hawkins Island is an island in the northern part of the Gulf of Alaska in the state of Alaska, United States. It lies just west of the city of Cordova, between that city and the further offshore Hinchinbrook Island. Prince William Sound lies t ...

Heceta Island Heceta Island (pronounced HECK–ah–Ta) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It lies just off the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. Kosciusko Island lies to its north, while Tuxekan Island lies t ...

* Herring Island(s) *

Hesketh Island Hesketh may refer to: People * Baron Hesketh: the various barons or lords Hesketh, who lived at Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, England ** Lord Hesketh: the Conservative Party politician, formally titled Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hes ...

* Hinchinbrook Island * Kalgin Island * Kanak Island * Karpa Island * Kataguni Island *

Kayak Island Kayak Island, ( Eyak: ''Qe'yiłteh'') which includes the Bering Expedition Landing Site, is located in the Gulf of Alaska, SE of Cordova, Alaska Malaspina Coastal Plain, on the eastern edge of Chugach National Forest. It has a land area of ...

* Khantaak Island *

Knight Island Knight Island () is an island long, lying west of Reeve Island in the Wauwermans Islands, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica. The island was shown on an Argentinian government chart of 1950. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Comm ...

Korovin Island Korovin Island (''Tanĝanuk'' in Aleut) is one of the Shumagin Islands in the Gulf of Alaska south of the Alaska Peninsula in the Aleutians East Borough of Alaska, United States. The island lies northeast of Popof Island and across the Unga St ...

* Kosciusko Island * Kriwoi Island * Kruzof Island *

Kuiu Island Kuiu Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. It lies between Kupreanof Island, to its east, and Baranof Island, to its west. The island is long, and wide. It is nearly cut in two by Affleck Canal. It has of ...

Kupreanof Island Kupreanof Island (russian: Остров Купреянова) is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. The island is long and wide with a total land area is , making it the 13th largest island in the United States and ...

Latouche Island Latouche Island is an island in the southern part of Alaska, United States. It lies in the Gulf of Alaska between Montague Island to the east and Evans Island to the northwest. Latouche Island has a land area of 60.627 km2 (23.408 sq mi) a ...

* Lemesurier Island * Lincoln Island * Lone Island * Long Island * Lulu Island * Lynn Brothers * Ma Relle Island(s) * Mab Island * Marmot Island * Mitkof Island * Montague Island * Nakchamik Island * Naked Island * Near Island * Noyes Island *

Nuka Island Nuka Island is an island in the northern Gulf of Alaska in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. It lies just off the southeastern corner of the Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting ...

* Osier Island * Otmeloi Island * Outer Island * Partofshikof Island * Pearl Island * Perry Island * Pleasant Island * Popof Island * Powder Island * Prince of Wales Island * Rabbit Island * Ragged Island * Rugged Island * Raspberry Island * Revillagigedo Island *

Rootok Island Rootok Island (also called ''Aektok'', ''Aiaktak'', ''Ouektock'', ''Aiaiepta'', ''Veniaminof'', or ''Goloi'' (alt: ''Goly''; russian: родила"bare") is the smallest member of the Krenitzin Islands, a subgroup of the Fox Islands in the easter ...

* San Fernando Island * San Juan Island *

Sebree Island Sebree Island is an island in Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay in Alaska. It is named for United States Navy officer and Governor of American Samoa This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) ...

* Sentinel Island * Shelter Island * Shikosi Island *

Shuyak Island Shuyak Island is an island in the northern part of the Kodiak Archipelago in the state of Alaska, USA. It is located just north of Afognak Island, separated from it by the narrow Shuyak Strait. The Stevenson Entrance to Cook Inlet separates it f ...

* Sinith Island(s) * Sitkalidak Island * Sitkinak Island * Spruce Island * Strawberry Island *

Suemez Island Suemez Island is located in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It resides in the west-central coast of Prince of Wales Island. The northern tip of Dall Island lies to its southeast, while Baker Island lies to its north ...

Sullivan Island Sullivan Island is an island in Lynn Canal, southwest of Chilkat Island, Southeast Alaska, United States. It was named in 1869 by Commander R. W. Meade, USN, for the master of the schooner ''Louisa Downs'', which had wrecked on the island in 1867. ...

Sutwik Island Sutwik Island is a 14-mile-long (22.5 km) island in the U.S. state of Alaska, located at off the Alaska Peninsula, east of Chignik Bay. It is part of Lake and Peninsula Borough and the Alaska Peninsula unit of the Alaska Maritime National W ...

* Talsani Island * Tanker Island * Tigalda Island * Tugidak Island * Twoheaded Island * Uganik Island *

Unalaska Island Unalaska ( ale, Nawan-Alaxsxa, russian: Уналашка) is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at . The island has a land area of . It measures long and wide. The city of Una ...

* Unalga Island * Unavikshak Island *

Unga Island Unga Island (Uĝnaasaqax̂ in Aleut) is the largest of the Shumagin Islands off the Alaska Peninsula in southwestern Alaska, United States. The island has a land area of 170.73 sq mi (442.188 km2), making it the 36th largest island in the ...

* Warren Island * Whale Island * Wingham Island * Wooded Island(s) * Woronkofski Island * Wrangell Island * Yakobi Island * Yukon Island * Zarembo Island

References

External links

World Atlas: Gulf Of Alaska – Map & Description
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwgCKF0QcPU {{DEFAULTSORT:Alaska Bodies of water of Alaska Gulfs of the Pacific Ocean Gulfs of the United States Temperate Northern Pacific