 Princess Royal Island is located on the Inside Passage to the east of Hecate Strait |
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | North Coast Archipelago (Central Coast) |
| Coordinates | 52°55′N 128°50′W / 52.917°N 128.833°W |
| Area | 2,251 square kilometres (869 sq mi) |
| Country | |
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Canada
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| Province |  British Columbia |
| Region | North Coast |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Tsimshian territory |
Princess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait on the British Columbia Coast. At 2,251 square kilometres (869 sq mi), it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia.[1] Princess Royal Island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, after his sloop, the Princess Royal.[2]
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Access and settlements
The island is located in an extremely remote area of British Columbia, 520 kilometres (320 mi) north of Vancouver and 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of Prince Rupert. It is accessible only by boat or air. The Inside Passage ferry and shipping lane runs along its eastern flank, in a series of channels separating it from the mainland. The island is currently uninhabited, but formerly was home to the community of Surf Inlet, a gold-mining town at the inlet of the same name (though also known as Port Belmont or Belmont), and Buetdale, a mining, cannery, fishing and logging town on the island's east coast. The nearest communities today are Klemtu, on Swindle Island and Hartley Bay, on the mainland shore east of Gil Island.
History
Twelve of the 17 crew of U. S. Air Force 44-92075 were found alive here in 1950, during the first lost nuke/Broken Arrow episode of the Cold War. The plane itself flew north after the crew bailed out, crashing on Mount Kologet, east of the Nass River to the northwest of Hazelton.
Ecology and environment
The island is classified by the World Wildlife Fund as part of their system's Pacific temperate rain forest ecoregion. In the ecoregion system used by Environment Canada, the island is in the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. In the system of giogeoclimatic zones used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, the island is part of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone.
Wildlife on Princess Royal Island includes kermode bears, black bears, grizzly bears, deer, wolves and foxes, and nesting populations of golden eagles, bald eagles, and the endangered marbled murrelet. Marine life around the island includes abundant salmon, elephant seals, orcas and porpoises. Princess Royal Island is a core component of a regional preservationist campaign covering the North and Central Coast, which has been dubbed the Great Bear Rainforest by environmental groups.
See also
- Estevan Group
- Aristazabal Island
- Surf Inlet Mine
- Canoona River
References
- ^ Pacidic Coast Islands, The Atlas of Canada
- ^ Princess Royal Island in the BC Geographical Names Information System
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
