Cape Caution is a
headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...
along the
Central Coast of the
Canadian Province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. It is the point where
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 and Discovery Passage and via them to the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound. It for ...
meets
Queen Charlotte Sound, as well as where
Mount Waddington Regional District meets
Central Coast Regional District
Central Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It has a total land area of 24,559.5 km2 (9,482.5 sq mi). When it was created in 1968, it was known as the Ocean Falls Regional District, named for the the ...
.
Toponymy
Cape Caution was named by British maritime explorer
George Vancouver
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...
in May 1793 for the turbulent waters and rocky coastline found in the vicinity. Vancouver had nearly lost his ship,
HMS Discovery, the previous year on a rock about 24 kilometres southeast of the headland.
[
]
Geography
Cape Caution is located on the western end of a large unnamed peninsula. The cape measures long and at its widest. It is bound to the northwest by Blunden Bay and to the southeast by Silvester Bay. Despite the visual prominence of the cape, the true westernmost point of the unnamed peninsula is Neck Ness ().
Conservation
The unique ecology of the headland is protected within the Ugʷiwa’/Cape Caution Conservancy and the Ugʷiwa’/Cape Caution–Blunden Bay Conservancy.
See also
* Cape Scott Lighthouse
References
{{Reflist
Central Coast of British Columbia
Headlands of British Columbia