Jervis Inlet


Jervis Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, about northwest of Vancouver, and the third of such inlets north of the 49th parallel, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver's harbour.

Geography

It stretches from its head at the mouth of the short Skwawka River to its opening into the Strait of Georgia near Texada Island. It is the deepest fjord on the British Columbia coast with a maximum depth of.
The inlet is made up of three arms or reaches:
At its uppermost stretch is Queens Reach, which takes a sharp right-angle often seen in fjord areas, to become Princess Royal Reach. Both reaches are about in length. The flanks of the fjord and the valley of the Skwawka River, which feeds the head of the inlet, are the site of two of Canada's highest waterfalls, James Bruce Falls and Alfred Creek Falls at.
The most frequented and best known inlet in the area is Princess Louisa Inlet, with the Malibu Club and Young Life Camp at the Malibu Rapids, the entrance of the inlet, and Princess Louisa Marine Provincial Park, including Chatterbox Falls, at its head.
At the mouth of Jervis Inlet a passenger and vehicle ferry operated by BC Ferries connects Earls Cove with Saltery Bay.
The mouth of Sechelt Inlet connects with Jervis Inlet in the area of Earls Cove.
Population is sparse on the shores of Jervis Inlet and there is no road access to the area. Industry includes small operations in aquaculture, commercial fishing and logging, but a substantial number of independent power projects are expected to develop in coming years.

Climate

History

The head of Jervis Inlet was once a seasonal settlement of one of the four groups that make up today's amalgamated Shishalh, who called it xénichen.
George Vancouver named the inlet after the 1791–1795 expedition to search for the fabled Northwest Passage. In the Royal Navy tradition, Vancouver named this main waterway after his friend Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis for his victory over the Spanish fleet on February 14, 1797 at Cape St. Vincent in Portugal. He named St. Vincent's Bay after the location of the battle, St. Vincent Bay.
The three specific reaches of the inlet and mountains were named in the 1860 survey by, which charted the known area in honour of members of Queen Victoria's family. The waterways named during this survey mission were: Princess Louisa Inlet, Queens Reach, Princess Royal Reach, and Prince of Wales Reach. Also named were the main mountains of the area:
In the early 1900s, logging and commercial fishing developed in the Jervis Inlet area. Relatively large logging camps operated at Goliath Bay, Vancouver Bay and Hotham Sound, commercial fishing was conducted by owner-operators based in Egmont, Pender Harbour and Saltery Bay, and several fish-processing plants operated in Egmont, Pender Harbour and Saltery Bay.

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