Adventure - Under the Dock Tour (a view of dock life)

At the docks

Stats

Difficulty: Easy                                                                                                        Time:  2 hrs

Summary

Every May, the Homer Chamber of Commerce hosts the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.  The festival celebrates the passage of huge numbers of migratory birds through Kachemak Bay.  It lasts 3 days and is jam-packed with bird-watching, hikes, talks, kayaking, and boat tours.  One of the activities we chose to do was "Under the Dock" a naturalist guided discussion of the life under the Homer docks.  This tour was sponsored and led by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.  They offer a variety of guided tours throughout the year.

Opinion

This was a delightful tour.  At first is seemed like something only for children, but
it turned out to be great for anyone.  Highly educational and very interesting.

Advice

Wear comfortable clothing.  You will be doing a lot of lying down on the wooden docks.  A windbreaker and sunscreen are recommended.

The Center for Alaskan Coastal studies provided mats to lie on for those of us with older bones and achy knees.

Suitability

This tour is suitable for all ages.  It is also suitable for the physically disabled.  A person in a wheelchair will see less, but should still be able to enjoy the experience.  However, the ramp down to the docks can be quite steep, especially at low tide, so getting them up and down could be quite a challenge.

Tour Access

Contact Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies for your tour.  You can use their linked web site, or visit them in person on Lake St in Homer (next to Ulmer's) or at their Yurt on the Spit.    

The tour will meet on the Spit. There is limited parking on the spit, but with some effort you can usually find a place.  Most parking is free although there are a few lots that charge for parking.  In the summer you can also take the Homer Trolley during the summer.

The Tour

Below the dock

We were running very late, so the tour was already on the dock when we arrived.  The rest of the tour participants met at the yurt on the Spit.  We were expecting a trek under the piers and pilings to see sea stars.  What we got was more interesting; a couple of hours looking at the growth under the floating docks in the Homer small boat harbor.

Tube worms and anemones

There were nudibranchs, anemones, barnacles, tube worms, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and muscles.  Kenny, the naturalist and tour guide, also pulled a starfish out of the water.  He explained the living and feeding habits of all the species we spotted.  He also provided a photo sheet with pictures of the various tidal life so you could, perhaps, identify what you were seeing for yourself.  Later as we were leaving we spotted dozens of starfish about six inches under the water on the rocks under ramp #2.   

Anemones and sea
weed under a boat

Watching 5 to 10 year olds run around and point at stuff was a wonderful experience.  And since you’ll ask, we were told they’ve never had to fish one out.  Kenny was a wealth of information about all things under the water and had a clear simple way of explaining everything and crowd management. 

The time flew by; two hours was over before we knew it.  We absolutely loved it.