Johnstone Strait
Encyclopedia
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
along the north east coast of Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Opposite the Vancouver Island coast, running north to south, are Hanson Island, West Cracroft Island, the mainland British Columbia Coast
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
, Hardwick Island, West Thurlow Island
West Thurlow Island
West Thurlow Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, an archipelago between Vancouver Island and the mainland, whose waters connect the Strait of Georgia with Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait....
and East Thurlow Island
East Thurlow Island
East Thurlow Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, an archipelago between Vancouver Island and the mainland, whose waters connect the Strait of Georgia with Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait...
. At that point, the strait meets Discovery Passage
Discovery Passage
Discovery Passage is a channel that forms part of the Inside Passage between Vancouver Island and the Discovery Islands which lie off the British Columbia coast north of the Georgia Strait. It was named by Captain Vancouver for his ship, the HMS Discovery...
which connects to Georgia Strait.
The strait is between 2.5 km (1.6 mi) and 5 km (3.1 mi) wide. It is a major navigation channel on the west coast of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is the preferred channel for vessels from the Georgia Strait leaving to the north of Vancouver Island through the Queen Charlotte Strait
Queen Charlotte Strait
Queen Charlotte Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It connects Queen Charlotte Sound with Johnstone Strait, Discovery Passage and then to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound...
bound for Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...
, Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and the North Pacific Ocean, and for southbound vessels from those areas bound for the Port of Vancouver
Port of Vancouver
The Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons...
.
The Strait is home to approximately 150 orca
Orca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
whales during the summer months, which are often seen by kayakers and boaters packed with tourists. Scientists including Michael Bigg
Michael Bigg
Michael Bigg was a Canadian marine biologist who is recognized as the founder of modern research on killer whales. With his colleagues, he developed new techniques for studying killer whales and conducted the first population census of the animals...
and Paul Spong
Paul Spong
Dr. Paul Spong is a neuroscientist and cetologist from New Zealand. He has spent more than 30 years researching orcas in British Columbia, and is credited with increasing public awareness of whaling, through his involvement with Greenpeace....
have been researching the orcas in the Strait since 1970. Spong established the OrcaLab, based on studying the Orcas in their natural habitat without interfering with their lives or their habitat. The strait includes the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve.
The Strait was named by Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
for James Johnstone
James Johnstone (explorer)
James Johnstone was a British naval officer and explorer. He is noted for having served as sailing master of the armed tender HMS Chatham and later acting lieutenant during George Vancouver’s 1791-95 expedition to the Pacific Northwest...
, master of the armed tender Chatham
HMS Chatham (1788)
HMS Chatham was a Royal Navy survey brig that accompanied HMS Discovery on George Vancouver's exploration of the west coast of North America in his 1791–1795 expedition. Chatham was built by King, of Dover and launched in early 1788...
. In 1792, his survey party established that Vancouver Island was an island.
There are no cities or towns along the length of the strait. Telegraph Cove
Telegraph Cove, British Columbia
Telegraph Cove is a community of about 20 on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, located approximately northwest of Campbell River. It is a former fishing and cannery village that has become a launch point for eco-tourism...
and Robson Bight
Robson Bight
Robson Bight is a small Vancouver Island bay at the west end of Johnstone Strait across from West Cracroft Island in British Columbia, Canada that includes a protected killer whale habitat famous for its whale-rubbing beaches...
on Vancouver Island are along the strait near its north end and the village of Sayward
Sayward, British Columbia
Sayward is a village located on in the Sayward Valley on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 1 mi inland from Kelsey Bay on a spur from Highway 19. The village is named after William Parsons Sayward, a successful lumber merchant from Victoria...
on Kelsey Bay is near its mid point.