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Our Islands
Natural History
Situated in isolation off the west coast of British Columbia, the Islands occupy a unique location in world geography. The most remote archipelago in Canada, the Islands consist of about 150 individual islands of various sizes lying alongside the edge of the continental shelf. Here, within only a few kilometers of land the ocean floor drops from a hundred to more than 1,000 meters and provides an upwelling of currents rich in marine life.
The Islands found their current geographic location about 20 million years ago but are comprised of materials as old as 250 million years in age. Several geologic transformations and adaptations have occurred contributing to the development of the present landscape including plate tectonics, seismic activity, glacial erosion and a continuously changing sea level.
Similar to many of the landscapes found on mainland British Columbia, the Islands include alpine mountains, sub-alpine plateaus, forest plains and muskeg bogs. While the Islands share many similar landscapes with the rest of the Province, the Islands are home to about 40 unique species or sub-species of plants and animals. It is this diverse concentration that has given the Islands the moniker the “Galapagos of the North”.
Much of this uniqueness has been explained through the theory that the Islands served as a refugia, or escape, from the last Ice Age that wrapped most of Canada and the United States in a blanket of ice 15,000 years ago. It was within these ice free areas that many of the plants and animals of the Islands adapted characteristics separate from their mainland counterparts today.
The topography of the Islands can be divided into 3 regions: The Queen Charlotte Ranges stretching from Port Louis on the mid west coast, south to Kunghit Island at the southern tip of the Islands, the Skidegate Plateau, that stretches from Langara Island in the North, southeast to Louise Island, and the Queen Charlotte Lowlands encompassing the north east corner of Graham Island from Naden Harbour to just north of Skidegate.
Three fault lines run through the Islands making them prone to seismic activity and the Islands hold the dubious record for the strongest recorded earthquake in Canada. An 8.1 shaking that hit in 1949.
The Islands are separated from mainland British Columbia by Hecate Strait, a shallow body of water averaging about 100 km between shores. During periods in the Islands’ history a portion of this area was exposed and a large grassland stretched at least half way across the Strait.
Today the Islands draw tourists from around the world lured by the isolation, landscape, and outdoor activities that are offered here. The scenery of the Islands is diverse and spectacular and offers remnants of a time before human arrival. The rugged shorelines, stands of huge trees and kilometer upon kilometer of vast, sandy, unpopulated beaches offer the visitor a relaxed atmosphere where one can easily find solitude in natural surroundings.
