Gribbell Island is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

on the

North Coast of British Columbia North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, Canada, located on the east side of the entrance to

Douglas Channel Douglas Channel is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. Its official length from the head of Kitimat Arm, where the aluminum smelter town of Kitimat to Wright Sound, on the Inside Passage ferry route, is . The actual length ...

Wright Sound Wright Sound is a waterway on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Wright Sound is south of Prince Rupert and lies at the southern opening of Grenville Channel and between Gil, Gribbell and Pitt Islands. The small town of Hartley Bay s ...

. Gribble Island Indian Reserve No. 10 is on its west coast, between Verney Passage and

Ursula Channel Ursula Channel is a channel in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It separates the east coast of Gribbell Island from the mainland. It was first charted in 1793 by Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey FRS (1757 – ...

at . The small Wimbledon Range is on the south side of the island, facing the northern extremities of

Princess Royal Island 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 , it is the fourth largest island in Britis ...

to the south, at

Name origin

"Named in 1867 by Capt. Daniel Pender, RN, after his brother-in-law, the Rev. Francis Barrow Gribbell, a clergyman of the Church of England. Arrived in Victoria, 1865; in charge of St. John's, Victoria, 1868; Rector of St. Paul's, Esquimalt, 1869; Principal of the collegiate school, Victoria, 1870-1875, when he returned to England. Vicar of Erith, Kent 1881; Vicar of Ringmer, Kent, 1891, where he now resides, 1906."

The Valhalla Wilderness Society has dubbed Gribbell Island the "Mother Island of the White Bear"''The Case for the Protection of Gribbell Island, Mother Island of the White Bear'', Valhalla Wilderness Society report, September 2012
/ref> The "white bear" referenced is the

Kermode bear The Kermode bear, sometimes called the spirit bear (''Ursus americanus kermodei''), is a subspecies of the American black bear and lives in the Central and North Coast regions of British Columbia, Canada. It is the official provincial mammal ...

References

Islands of British Columbia North Coast of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub