Fitz Hugh Sound, sometimes spelled Fitzhugh Sound, is a
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
on the
British Columbia Coast
, settlement_type = Region of British Columbia
, image_skyline =
, nickname = "The Coast"
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = British ...
of Canada, located between
Calvert Island
Calvert Island is an island in Whitefish Bay, Lake of the Woods in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. It is about south of the community of Sioux Narrows and west of Ontario Highway 71.
Calvert Island is long and wide. The western edge is ...
and the mainland.
Etymology
Fitz Hugh Sound was given its name in 1785 by
James Hanna
James Hanna (born July 14, 1989) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted in the sixth round (186th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at the Un ...
, the first non-indigenous person to find and map it. Hanna was the first British
maritime fur trade
The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ex ...
r to visit the Northwest Coast.
It was probably named for
William Fitzhugh
William Fitzhugh (August 24, 1741June 6, 1809) was an American planter, legislator and patriot during the American Revolutionary War who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Virginia in 1779, as well as many terms in the House o ...
who was a partner in the explorations of
John Meares
John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.
Career
Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an ...
.
Geography
Fitz Hugh Sound is part of a group of named bodies of water around the opening of
Dean Channel Dean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains, enters Dean Channel about below the head ...
, one of the coast's main fjords, where it intersects the infra-insular waterway known as the
Inside Passage
The Inside Passage (french: Passage Intérieur) is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland. The route extends from southeaster ...
. Adjacent water bodies include
Fisher Channel to the north,
Burke Channel Burke Channel is a channel in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, separating the south and east coasts of King Island from the mainland. It was first charted in 1792 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's ...
to the northwest, Fish Egg Inlet to its east,
Rivers Inlet
Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance off Fitz Hugh Sound, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the ...
to its southeast, and
Queen Charlotte Sound to its south and west. Beyond Queen Charlotte Sound lies
Queen Charlotte Strait
, image = Canadian pilot, near Port Hardy BC.jpg
, alt =
, caption = A pilot boat plies Queen Charlotte Strait near Port Hardy
, image_bathymetry = Locmap-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png
, alt_bathymetry =
...
(to the southeast) and the
open ocean
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
(to the west).
Fitz Hugh Sound is the southern limit of the large group of offshore islands known as the
North Coast Archipelago, which extends to the
Dixon Entrance
The Dixon Entrance (french: Entrée Dixon) is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part of t ...
and the opening of the
Portland Canal
, image = Hyder Alaska IMG 0276 (22495379342).jpg
, alt =
, caption = Portland Canal from Hyder, Alaska
, image_bathymetry =
, alt_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = Alaska and British Columbia
, group =
, coordinates ...
at the boundary of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
.
References
External links
*
*
North Coast of British Columbia
Central Coast of British Columbia
Sounds of British Columbia
{{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub