13-520: Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island , near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island , in the Regional District of Mount Waddington , British Columbia , Canada. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Alert Bay had a population of 449 living in 219 of its 266 total private dwellings, a change of -6.3% from its 2016 population of 479. With a land area of 1.69 km (0.65 sq mi), it had
26-514: A hospital, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police station, a drug store, a post office, four restaurants and retail gift shops, a BC liquor store, a Royal Canadian Legion , a pub, doctors' offices, a drug and alcohol treatment centre, and three automated teller machines (one in the bank, one outside the drug store and one outside Bayside Pub). The town has two airports ( Alert Bay Airport , and the Alert Bay Water Aerodrome ). There
39-407: A population density of 265.7/km (688.1/sq mi) in 2021. Up to half of the village's residents are First Nations people. The village is in traditional Kwakwakaʼwakw territory. Two Indian Reserves take up the rest of Cormorant Island, Alert Bay 1 on the east side of the island, Alert Bay 1A on the west. Alert Bay has a credit union , grocery store, museums, a traditional " big house ",
52-499: A school in nearby Port McNeill on Vancouver Island , along with students from Sointula on nearby Malcolm Island and others on North Island. Alert Bay has a campground, located on Alder Rd. Alert Bay Ecological Park, formerly known as Gator Gardens, consists of boardwalks over a marsh and some forest trails. Cedar, pine, and hemlock trees populate the marsh. Many of the trees in the park are covered in Witch's Hair lichen . The water in
65-717: A strong drying tendency in summer. Alert Bay is heavily moderated by the proximity to the Pacific Ocean and being located in the pathway of low-pressure systems from said ocean, heavy annual rainfall ensues. Winter is the wettest season, but snowfall is rare due to the average lows above freezing. Volcanic features in the geography around Alert Bay are part of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt . It appears to have been active in Miocene and Pliocene times. No Holocene eruptions are known, and volcanic activity in
78-454: Is a boat harbour and a BC Ferries terminal with service to Sointula and Port McNeill . There is Alert Bay Elementary School, part of School District 85 Vancouver Island North , for children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 7 and the T'lisalagi'lakw School (independent) owned and operated by the ʼNamgis First Nation for children in nursery, kindergarten and grades 1 to 7. Students in grades 8 to 12 travel by foot or ferry / water taxi to
91-424: The 'Namgis First Nation . Approximately 60% of persons on the island live on one of the reserves, which together occupy about 30% of the island's land area. The island is accessible by boat or by air. BC Ferries runs a passenger and car ferry between Cormorant Island, Malcolm Island, and Port McNeill which departs from Cormorant Island approximately every three hours during the day. There are two airports on
104-628: The Indian Act , confiscated many items including wooden masks, copper shields, and dance regalia. During the 1970s and 80s, the Kwakwakaʼwakw regained their possessions after long negotiations. The returned artifacts are housed in a museum at the U'mista Cultural Centre. The settlement was named c.1860 after the Royal Navy ship HMS Alert , which conducted survey operations in the area. Alert Bay has an oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) with
117-548: The Pacific Northwest Coast. 50°35′00″N 126°55′00″W / 50.58333°N 126.91667°W / 50.58333; -126.91667 Alert Bay Volcanic Belt The Alert Bay Volcanic Belt is a heavily eroded Neogene volcanic belt in northern Vancouver Island , British Columbia , Canada . The belt is now north of the Nootka Fault , but may have been directly above the fault at
130-548: The belt has likely ceased. Cormorant Island (British Columbia) Cormorant Island is an island in Queen Charlotte Strait on the Central Coast of British Columbia , Canada . It has a total land area of about 4 square km and is located south of Malcolm Island and east of Port McNeill . Approximately 954 people (2016 census) live on the island, primarily in the village of Alert Bay and
143-400: The island: Alert Bay Water Aerodrome allows for access via floatplane , while Alert Bay Airport allows for conventional airplanes. The island was named for the paddle sloop HMS Cormorant in 1846, by that vessel's commander, George T. Gordon . The Cormorant was assigned to the Royal Navy 's Pacific Station from 1844 to 1850, and was the first naval steam vessel in the waters of
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#1732775531577156-528: The marsh comes from an underground fresh water spring. A dam was built in 1886 to collect fresh water for a fish cannery, and the resulting flooding of fresh water killed the trees in this area. The resulting cedar snags are a distinctive feature of this marshy area. Alert Bay is home to the world's tallest totem pole . In 1921, the Government of Canada , in an effort to stop the potlatch custom of dance, song, and wealth distribution under Section 116 of
169-623: The time it last erupted. Eruptions of basaltic to rhyolitic volcanoes and hypabyssal rocks of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt are probably linked with the subducted margin flanked by the Explorer and Juan de Fuca plates at the Cascadia subduction zone . The Alert Bay Volcanic Belt is poorly studied, but appears to have been active in Miocene to Pliocene time. No Holocene eruptions are known, and volcanic activity in
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