Seaforth Channel

Seaforth Channel
Ivory Island Lighthouse at the northwest entrance to Seaforth Channel
Seaforth Channel Location in British Columbia
Coordinates	52°14′48″N 128°17′58″W / 52.2467°N 128.2995°W / 52.2467; -128.2995
Part of	Inside Passage
Primary outflows	Milbanke Sound Lama Passage
Basin countries	Canada
Designation	Voluntary Tanker Exclusion Zone
Islands	Athlone 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. Seaforth Channel which is part of the Prince Rupert/Port Hardy BC ferry route, extends in a westerly direction from Denny Island to Milbanke Sound between Denny Island, Campbell Island and the Wright group of islands on the south. 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. More than 100,000 litres of fuel contaminated the coast, coves and shores 20 kilometres 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."

Lama Passage extends from Seaforth Channel to Fitzburgh Sound with Dryad Point across from Saunders Island at the junction. "Wood Island and Ark Island are close offshore at the junction of Seaforth Channel and Troup Passage. Newby Island, Munsie Point and Christiansen Point lie 0.5 to 2 miles WNW of Ark Island. Nose Island, 0.6 mile west of Christiansen Point, is steep-to on its south side and has a conspicuous tree about 60 m high."