Quatsino Sound is a complex of coastal inlets, bays and islands on northwestern Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 in the Canadian province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. It is the northernmost of the five sounds that pierce the west coast of Vancouver Island, the others being Kyuquot Sound

Kyuquot Sound

Kyuquot Sound is a complex of coastal inlets, bays and islands on northwestern Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia.-Name:...

, Nootka Sound

Nootka Sound

Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...

, Clayoquot Sound

Clayoquot Sound

Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. It is a body of water with many inlets and islands. Major inlets include Sydney Inlet,...

, and Barclay Sound.

Quatsino Sound extends east from the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. Near its entrance, on the north side, is Forward Inlet, which branches into several smaller inlets, including the Winter Harbour and village of Winter Harbour, British Columbia

Winter Harbour, British Columbia

Winter Harbour is a fishing village of 20 people on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, at the mouth of the Quatsino Sound. It was named in the 19th century because of its safe natural harbour.-References:***...

. Koskimo Bay and Koprino Harbour are located farther east into Quatsino Sound. Drake Island, which is named after Justice Montague William Tyrwhitt Drake, (Mayor of Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 1876-1877 lies near the eastern end of Quatsino Sound, and the long Neroutsos Inlet extends southeast from Drake Island. The town of Port Alice

Port Alice, British Columbia

Port Alice is a small, quiet, town of approx. 821 located off on Neroutsos Inlet, northwest of Port McNeill, on Vancouver Island, originally built by Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills of Vancouver. The community is known for its natural beauty, pulp mill, and salt water fishing.-History:It was named...

 lies near the end of Neroutsos Inlet. East of Drake Island, Quatsino Narrows connects the eastern end of Quatsino Sound to Holberg Inlet and the smaller Rupert Inlet. Quatsino Narrows is a tidal rapids

Tidal race

Tidal race is a natural occurrence whereby a fast moving tide passes through a constriction resulting in the formation of waves, eddies and hazardous currents...

 (which are also known in British Columbia as skookumchuck

Skookumchuck

Skookumchuck is a word in the Chinook Jargon that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English. Skookum means "strong" or "powerful", and "chuck" means water, so skookumchuck means "rapids" or "whitewater"...

s), with currents reaching 9 knots (17.6 km/h) at flood tide

Flood Tide

Flood Tide is an adventure novel by Clive Cussler. This is the 14th book featuring the author’s primary protagonist, Dirk Pitt. He must rescue illegal immigrants from a Chinese tycoon and locate the bones of the Peking Man, the famous lost example of Homo erectus...

. The sound is located within the Mount Waddington Regional District.

See also

• Fjords of Canada
• Quatsino First Nation
  Quatsino First Nation
  The Quatsino First Nation is the First Nations band government of the Gwat'sinux subgroup of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples, based on the west coast of northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, focused on the community of Coal Harbour in Quatsino Sound...
  
  
• Quatsino, British Columbia
  Quatsino, British Columbia
  Quatsino is a small hamlet of 91 people located on Quatsino Sound in Northern Vancouver Island, Canada only accessible by boat or float plane. Its nearest neighbour is Coal Harbour, to the east, about 20 minutes away by boat, and Port Alice, to the south, about 40 minutes away by boat...
  
  
• Quatsino Provincial Park
  Quatsino Provincial Park
  -Conservation:This undeveloped park protects some of the largest old-growth trees, some small lakes, Koprino Harbour, which is a sheltered inlet, and the Koprino River estuary, which is noted for its critical fish-rearing and waterfowl habitat. The also park protects nesting and feeding habitat...
  
  
• British Columbia Coast
  British Columbia Coast
  The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
  
  
• Holberg, British Columbia
  Holberg, British Columbia
  Holberg is a small settlement on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The community was established in the early 1900s by Danish settlers who named their new home in honour of Baron Ludwig Holberg....