View source for Hecate Strait

{{Short description|Strait between Haida Gwaii and mainland British Columbia}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Hecate Strait
| native_name        ={{native name|hai|K̲andaliig̲wii}}
| other_name         = {{langx|fr|Détroit d'Hécate}}
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| image              = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG
| image_size         = 260px
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| caption            = Hecate Strait and [[Pitt Island (Canada)|Pitt Island]]
| image_bathymetry   = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png
| alt_bathymetry     = 
| caption_bathymetry = Hecate Strait as delineated by [[BC Geographical Names Information System|BCGNIS]], along with [[Queen Charlotte Sound (Canada)|Queen Charlotte Sound]] and [[Dixon Entrance]]. Red dots indicate capes and points, gray text indicates island names.
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| location           = [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]]
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| coordinates        = {{coord|53|11|N|130|50|W|type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}
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| oceans             = [[Pacific Ocean]]
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| length             = {{convert|260|km|abbr=on}}
| width              = {{convert|140|km|abbr=on}}
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| cities             = [[Daajing Giids]], [[Skidegate]], [[Sandspit, British Columbia|Sandspit]], [[Tlell]], [[Kitkatla, British Columbia|Kitkatla]]
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| pushpin_map             = British Columbia
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'''Hecate Strait''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛ|k|ɪ|t}}; [[Haida language]]: ''K̲andaliig̲wii'',<ref>{{Citation  | last= Skidegate Haida Immersion Program | title=A Pocket Guide to the Skidegate Haida Language | edition =forthcoming  <!-- Invalid ISBN | isbn = 978145154458 -->}}</ref> also ''siigaay'' which means simply "ocean")<!--the Tsimshian and other native-language names should be included; Hecate Strait is not purely "Haida teritory"--> is a wide but shallow [[strait]] between [[Haida Gwaii]] and the mainland of [[British Columbia]], Canada. It merges with [[Queen Charlotte Sound (Canada)|Queen Charlotte Sound]] to the south and [[Dixon Entrance]] to the north. About {{convert|140|km|mi}} wide at its southern end, Hecate Strait narrows in the north to about {{convert|48|km|mi}}.<ref name=bcgnis>{{Cite bcgnis|id=38500 |title=Hecate Strait}}</ref> It is about {{convert|260|km|mi}} in length.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/69/11/H02311.html Hecate Strait] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606231824/http://www.bartleby.com/69/11/H02311.html |date=2008-06-06 }}, Columbia Gazetteer of North America</ref>

==Definition==
According to the [[BC Geographical Names Information System|BCGNIS]], the southern boundary of Hecate Strait is defined as a line running from the southernmost point of [[Price Island (British Columbia)|Price Island]] to Cape St James on [[Kunghit Island]], the southernmost point of Haida Gwaii. The northern boundary is a line from Rose Point, the northeastern tip of [[Graham Island]], to Hooper Point at the north end of Stephens Island off the mainland.<ref name=bcgnis/>

==History==
Because it is so shallow, Hecate Strait is especially susceptible to storms and violent weather{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}. The [[Haida people|Haida]] of Haida Gwaii crossed the Hecate Strait to the mainland to plunder coastal villages to take slaves and booty. Sometimes mainland First Nations crossed Hecate Strait to Haida Gwaii, such as a [[Nisga'a]] war party from the lower [[Nass River]], which crossed the strait in a retaliatory raid after an attack by Haida Ravens from [[Hiellen]], which took Nisga'a slaves back to Hiellen. The inhabitants of Hiellen, fearing a Nisga'a retaliation, took refuge in [[Masset]]. The Nisga'a found Hiellen abandoned and burned it to the ground. Haida from Masset counterattacked, resulting in a long battle at Hiellen and nearby [[Taaw Tldáaw]]. The Nisga'a survivors crossed Hecate Strait again to return home.<ref name=MacDonald>{{cite book |last= MacDonald |first= George F. |title= Chiefs of the Sea and Sky: Haida Heritage Sites of the Queen Charlotte Islands |publisher= University of British Columbia Press |date= 1989 |isbn= 9780774803311 |pages= 82–83 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=trMpIYjio_wC&pg=PA82 |access-date= 14 April 2023}}</ref>

The Strait was first explored for the europeans in 1792 by the spanish [[Spanish Armada|Armada]] explorer [[Jacinto Caamaño]]. Hecate Strait was named by Captain [[George Henry Richards]] in 1861 or 1862 after his surveying vessel, [[HMS Hecate (1839)|HMS ''Hecate'']].<ref name=bcgnis/>

==Geology==
During the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]], the seafloor in this area was a wide coastal plain stretching south to the [[Olympic Peninsula]] and including what is now [[Queen Charlotte Sound (Canada)|Queen Charlotte Sound]].<ref name=civca>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/haida/happr01e.shtml |title=During the end of the last ice age between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago, events resulted in very low water levels around Haida Gwaii. What is now Hecate Strait, the body of water that separates Haida Gwaii from the mainland, was for the most part dry land. Throughout this area of dry land, there were lakes and small rivers draining north and south to the Pacific Ocean. Soil samples from Hecate Strait indicate that many areas were habitable in the last ice age. After 10,000 years ago, the melting glaciers contributed to a rise in the sea level that resulted in a flooding of the Northwest Coast, temporarily creating beach lines high above today's high tide marks. |work=Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation }}</ref>

==Flora and fauna==
The strait once contained strong [[salmon]] and [[halibut]] [[fishery|fisheries]].

Hecate Strait is one of the few locations in the world with species from the [[glass sponge]] class of fauna. Regions with these sponge are currently protected from damage by commercial fishing.<ref>[http://www.livingoceans.org/programs/sustainable_fisheries/sponges.aspx Glass Sponge Reefs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815102041/http://www.livingoceans.org/programs/sustainable_fisheries/sponges.aspx |date=2010-08-15 }} Living Oceans Society</ref>

The [[Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area]] was designated by the [[Fisheries and Oceans Canada]] in February 2017. The MPA is located in the Northern Shelf bioregion of the Pacific Region, southeast of [[Haida Gwaii]], North and South of the entrance to the Douglas Channel. The MPA is composed of three individual areas known as the Northern Reef, the Central Reefs, and the Southern Reef. Together these three areas cover approximately 2,410 square kilometers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/mpa-zpm/hecate-eng.html|title=Fisheries and Oceans Canada|website=www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca|language=en|access-date=2018-11-22}}</ref> The four reef complexes in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound discontinuously cover an area of about 1,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, and are located in glacial troughs between 140 m and 240 m deep.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{British Columbia hydrography}}

[[Category:Straits of British Columbia]]
[[Category:North Coast of British Columbia]]