Princess Royal Island
Encyclopedia
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 2251 square kilometres (869.1 sq mi), it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia. Princess Royal Island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, after his sloop, the Princess Royal
.
and 200 kilometres (124.3 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 Butedale
, 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
.
to the northwest of Hazelton
.
. In the ecoregion system used by Environment Canada
, the island is in the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. In the system of biogeoclimatic 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 bear
s, 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.
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....
, 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...
. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait
Hecate Strait is a wide but shallow strait between the Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It merges with Queen Charlotte Sound to the south and Dixon Entrance to the north...
on the 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....
. At 2251 square kilometres (869.1 sq mi), it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia. Princess Royal Island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, after his sloop, the Princess Royal
Princess Royal (sloop)
Princess Royal was a British merchant ship that sailed on fur trading ventures in the late 1780s, and was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José Martínez of Spain during the Nootka Crisis of 1789...
.
Access and settlements
The island is located in an extremely remote area of British Columbia, 520 kilometres (323.1 mi) north of VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and 200 kilometres (124.3 mi) south of 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:...
. It is accessible only by boat or air. The Inside Passage
Inside Passage
The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington...
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
Surf Inlet, British Columbia
Port Belmont, also known as Belmont and Surf Inlet, was a gold-mining camp located on northern Princess Royal Island on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada....
, a gold-mining town at the inlet of the same name (though also known as Port Belmont or Belmont), and Butedale
Butedale, British Columbia
Butedale is a ghost town that was founded on Princess Royal Island, British Columbia in 1918 as a fishing, mining and logging camp. Initially the salmon cannery was established by Western Packers which was purchased and operated by the Canadian Fishing Company until it ceased operating in the 1950s...
, a mining, cannery, fishing and logging town on the island's east coast. The nearest communities today are Klemtu, on Swindle Island
Swindle Island
Swindle Island is an island on the North Coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located south of Princess Royal Island on the Inside Passage shipping route. Price Island lies just south of Swindle Island...
and Hartley Bay, on the mainland shore east of Gil Island
Gil Island (Canada)
Gil Island is an island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of Whale Channel in the entrance to Douglas Channel, one of the main coastal inlets, on the route of the Inside Passage between Pitt Island and Princess Royal Island. It is 26 km long, with a width...
.
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 RiverNass River
The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance...
to the northwest of Hazelton
Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...
.
Ecology and environment
The island is classified by the World Wildlife Fund as part of their system's Pacific temperate rain forest ecoregionEcoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
. In the ecoregion system used by Environment Canada
Environment Canada
Environment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
, the island is in the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. In the system of biogeoclimatic zones
Biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia
Biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia are a classification system ciosed by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests for the Canadian province's many different ecosystems...
used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, the island is part of the Coastal Western Hemlock
Western Hemlock
Tsuga heterophylla. the Western Hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California.-Habitat:...
zone.
Wildlife on Princess Royal Island includes kermode bear
Kermode bear
The Kermode bear , also known as a "spirit bear" , is a subspecies of the American Black Bear living in the central and north coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is noted for about 1/10 of their population having white or cream-coloured coats...
s, 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
Great Bear Rainforest
The Great Bear Rainforest is the name coined by environmental groups in the mid-1990s to refer to a region of temperate rain forest in Canada, on the British Columbia Coast between Vancouver Island and Southeast Alaska...
by environmental groups.