Seaforth Channel

Seaforth Channel
French: Canal Seaforth
Ivory Island Lighthouse
Ivory Island Lighthouse at the northwest entrance to Seaforth Channel
Seaforth Channel is located in British Columbia
Seaforth Channel
Seaforth Channel
Location in British Columbia
Coordinates52°14′48″N 128°17′58″W / 52.2467°N 128.2995°W / 52.2467; -128.2995
Part ofInside Passage
Primary outflowsMilbanke Sound
Lama Passage
Basin countriesCanada
DesignationVoluntary Tanker Exclusion Zone
IslandsAthlone Island
Dufferin Island
Horsfall Island
Campbell Island
Denny Island
Ivory Island
Beasley Islands

Seaforth Channel is a channel in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia which is part of the Inside Passage - the 950 miles (1,530 km) passage between Seattle, Washington and Juneau, Alaska. The marine highway goes through Seaforth Channel on the way to Milbanke Sound, one of the open sea portions of the Inland Passage.[1] Seaforth Channel which is part of the Prince Rupert/Port Hardy BC ferry route, extends in a westerly direction from Denny Island[2] to Milbanke Sound between Denny Island, Campbell Island and the Wright group of islands on the south.[3] In October 2016, a Texas-owned tug/barge transiting the Canadian waters of the Inside Passage without a local pilot was hard grounded on a reef at the entrance to Seaforth Channel in October 2016.[4] More than 100,000 L (22,000 imp gal; 26,000 US gal) of fuel contaminated the coast, coves and shores 20 km (12 mi) west of Bella Bella, the core community of the Heiltsuk Nation as well as the environmentally sensitive Great Bear Rainforest - Canada's contribution to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy (QCC), a network of forest conservation programs. Clean up response and salvage was criticized by the Heiltsuk, B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In November in Vancouver the Prime Minister announced a $1.5B ocean protection plan to "create a marine safety system, restore marine ecosystems and undertake research into oil spill cleanup methods."

  1. ^ "Milbanke Sound". BC Geographical Names.
  2. ^ "Denny Island". BC Geographical Names.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NOAA_1880 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ National Transportation Safety Board: "Grounding of Articulated Tug and Barge Nathan E Stewart/DBL 55", published 11/21/2017