Tracy Arm facts for kids
Tracy Arm is a long, narrow inlet of the sea, called a fjord, located in Alaska. It's found close to the city of Juneau. This beautiful area was named after Benjamin Franklin Tracy, who was a very important person in the United States government, serving as the Secretary of the Navy.
Tracy Arm is about 45 miles (72 km) south of Juneau. It's also about 70 miles (113 km) north of Petersburg, Alaska. This fjord is part of a larger protected area called the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness. The United States Congress created this wilderness area in 1990 to protect its amazing nature.
The Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness is huge, covering over 653,179 acres (2,643 km²). It includes two main fjords: Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. Both of these fjords are more than 30 miles (48 km) long. A big part of this area, about one-fifth, is covered in ice! In the summer, you can see lots of ice floating in the fjords. These ice pieces can be small, like the size of your hand, or as big as a three-story building. Long ago, during the last ice age, these fjords were completely filled with active glaciers.
How to Visit Tracy Arm
The most common way to get to Tracy Arm is by boat. You can travel through Stephens Passage and then enter Holkham Bay, which leads to Tracy and Endicott Arms. Some people also fly in using small planes that land on water, often from Juneau or Petersburg. Many large tour ships and smaller cruise boats visit Tracy Arm. It's a popular spot for tourists to explore or a stop on their journey.
Sawyer Glaciers
At the very end of Tracy Arm, you'll find two amazing glaciers called the Sawyer Glaciers. They are known as North Sawyer and South Sawyer. This area is home to lots of different animals. You might see black and brown bears, deer, and even wolves. The waters are home to harbor seals. Many kinds of birds live here too, like Arctic terns and pigeon guillemots. Sometimes, you can even spot mountain goats. These goats usually live high up in the mountains, but they have been seen close to the bottom of Sawyer Glacier.
Life in the Deep Water
Tracy Arm has very deep waterways and a thin edge of land under the sea. This creates a special connection between the deep ocean and the shallower waters near the shore. The water here is very cold and full of nutrients, which are like food for sea creatures. Strong currents also help. Because of these conditions, many animals that usually live in very deep water can survive in the shallower parts of Tracy Arm.
For example, there are special corals in this area, like Primnoa pacifica. These corals are so important that the area is called a "Habitat Area of Particular Concern." Primnoa pacifica corals usually live very deep in the ocean, between 150 meters (492 feet) and 900 meters (2,953 feet) down. But in Tracy Arm, you can find them much closer to the surface, between 20 feet (6 meters) and 100 feet (30 meters) deep. This makes Tracy Arm a unique place for scientists to study these deep-sea corals.
