Alaska 2013, Day 32, Homer Day 3

Wednesday July 3, 2013

We booked a 1/2 day hike, 1/2 kayak with the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies across the Katchemak in Peterson Bay.  There was almost a dozen of us.  The tide was midway so there wasn't supposed to be any tide pooling but our guide found some cool tide pooling on Otter Rock.  Our guide took us from their station to otter rock, down the beach and along the woods.  The hiking guide really knew her sea critters and beach plants. They had 2 nice touch tanks at the station that she went through each animal. They had some trapdoor hermit crabs with one big claw that blocks the shell entry, never seen one of these before.  They had a helmet crab, an orange hermit crab, a tiger striped chiton. We walked back to a bog behind the station.  They had sundews in the bog.

For the kayaking they took us across Peterson Bay, onto a beach and we hiked to some hidden cove full of purple pygmy rock crabs, around some rocks and through a rock arch. We chased down some harlequin ducks, and saw mures, marbled murrlets and a sea otter.