COOK INLET

inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, U.S., in the North Pacific Ocean. Bounded by the Kenai Peninsula on the east, it extends northeast for 220 miles (350 km), narrowing from 80 to 9 miles (129 to 14 km). The city of Anchorage in southern Alaska is situated near the head of the inlet (which receives the Susitna River), where Turnagain Arm stretches southeast and Knik Arm northeast. The inlet, experiencing tidal flows sometimes approaching 33 feet (10 m) in a daily cycle, is a salmon- and herring-fishing ground and an oil field. It was entered in 1778 by the British navigator Captain James Cook during his search for the Northwest Passage.