Princess Royal Island is the largest 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'' i ...

, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of

Hecate Strait , image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island , image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = , captio ...

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 ...

. At , it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia. Princess Royal Island was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, after his sloop .

Access and settlements

The island is located in an extremely remote area of British Columbia, north of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

and south of

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cava ...

. It is accessible only by boat or air. 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 southeaste ...

ferry and shipping lane runs along its eastern flank, in

Princess Royal Channel Princess Royal Channel is a channel in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, separating Princess Royal Island from the mainland. The southern half of the channel is also called Graham Reach, and the northern half Fra ...

separating it from the mainland. The island is uninhabited, but used to be 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 Butedale is a ghost town on Princess Royal Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded 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 ...

, a mining, cannery, fishing and logging town on the island's east coast. The nearest communities today are

Klemtu Klemtu is an unincorporated community on Swindle Island in the coastal fjords of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Kitasoo Indian Reserve No. 1. Klemtu is the home of the Kitasoo tribe of Tsimshians, originally from Kitasu Bay, and ...

, on

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. The small First Nations community of Klemtu is located on its easter ...

and

Hartley Bay Hartley Bay is a First Nations community on the coast of British Columbia. The village is located at the mouth of Douglas Channel, about north of Vancouver and south of Prince Rupert. It is an isolated village accessible only by air and wate ...

, on the mainland shore east of Gil Island.

Indigenous reserves

Indigenous reserve Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

s on or adjacent to Princess Royal Island are:

Hartley Bay Indian Band The Hartley Bay Indian Band is also known as the Gitga'at First Nation or the Hartley Bay First Nation. The members of the Gitga'at First nation are often referred to as Gitka'a'ata. The population of Gitk’a’ata peoples living in Hartley Bay ra ...

reserves: *Kahas Indian Reserve No. 7, on the west coast of Princess Royal at Barnard Harbour, 16.50 ha (40.8 acres) . *Kayel Indian Reserve No. 8, on the west shore of Princess Royal fronting on

Campania Sound Campania Sound is a sound on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located between Campania Island and Princess Royal Island Princess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst ...

, 1.60 ha. (4.0 acres) at . *Lackzuswadda Indian Reserve No. 9, on an island at the entrance to Surf Inlet, on the southwest coast of Princess Royal, 2.20 ha. (5.4 acres) at .BC Names/GeoBC entry "Lackzuswadda 9 (Indian reserve)"
/ref>

Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation The Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation, also known as the Kitasoo/Xaixais Nation, is the band government of the First Nations people of Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada. The band comprises two ethnic groups who share an ancient alliance, the Kitasoo, a ...

reserves: * Canoona 2, on Princess Royal Island, north shore of

Graham Reach Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Cla ...

, 219.30 ha. *Dil-ma-sow 5, on Kent Islet southwest of the Princess Royal Islands, 1.90 ha. *Kinmakanksk 6, on the southwest shore of Princess Royal Island on Laredo Channel, 11.70 ha. *Lattkaloup 9, on Princess Royal Island at mouth of Fowles Creek, Laredo Inlet, 0.40. ha. *Saint Joe 10, on Princess Royal Island at outlet of Bloomfield Lake into Laredo Inlet, 0.50 ha. *Ulthakoush 11, at head of Laredo Inlet on Princess Royal Island, 2.40 ha.

History

Twelve of the 17 crew of U.S. Air Force 44-92075 were found alive here in 1950, during the first lost nuclear/ Broken Arrow episode of the Cold War. The plane itself flew north after the crew bailed out, crashing on

Mount Kologet Swan Lake Kispiox River Provincial Park is a provincial park in northwest British Columbia, Canada. It lies within the territories of the Gitanyow and Gitxsan First Nations. The park and the area surrounding it are important to First Nations ...

, east of the

Nass 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. Nass Bay joins Portland In ...

to the northwest of Hazelton. Cannery Ruins, Butedale, BC

Geography

The island's northern tip is Trivett Point, its northwestern tip is

Kingcome Point Kingcome Point is a headland on the northwest tip of Princess Royal Island in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. Name origin The point was named about 1867 by Captain Pender, RN, for William Kingcome, who captained the Hudson' ...

. The

Canoona River The Canoona River is located on Princess Royal Island on the Inside Passage of British Columbia. The river spills into the ocean over a series of rapids from Canoona Lake. Fish ladders have been built on both sides of the rapids to help the s ...

drains the central part of the island, flowing east to the sea from Canoona Lake.

Ecology and environment

The island is classified by the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

as part of their system's Pacific temperate rain forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas o ...

. In the ecoregion system used by Environment Canada, the island is in the

Pacific Maritime Ecozone The Pacific Maritime Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone, spanning a strip approximately 200 kilometres wide along the British Columbia Coast, then narrowing along the b ...

. 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 bears, black bears,

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos hor ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

es, and nesting populations of

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds ...

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same nich ...

s, and the endangered marbled murrelet. Marine life around the island includes abundant

salmon Salmon () is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...

elephant seal Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus ''Mirounga''. Both species, the northern elephant seal (''M. angustirostris'') and the southern elephant seal (''M. leonina''), were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil ...

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

s and

porpoise Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals ...

s. 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.

References

External links

Princess Royal Island on BritishColumbia.com
{{Coord, 52, 55, N, 128, 50, W, display=title Islands of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia Uninhabited islands of British Columbia