Active Pass

Geographical location

The Active Pass is a strait of the Pacific Ocean in the southwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The short waterway is formed by Galiano and Mayne Iceland Iceland the ' Outer Gulf Islands -Group'. The strait is indeed only 5.5 miles long, but at its narrowest point, only about 500 meters wide.

Traffic Technically it is of considerable importance as they pass through various ferry, including a between the mainland and Vancouver Iceland. The problem is the passage for a fact that they very abruptly changes its course twice and on the other by the fact that here the ferries have to pass from the mainland and Vancouver Iceland coming regularly. Due to the tide changes the flow with her each direction and the flow running times with 3 to 4 knots in the north and then 3 to 4 knots in the south.

History

The Active Pass got its name after the U.S. warship USS Active, the first steam-powered ship that has traveled 1855 Passage of the year. By the year 1858, the constriction was named still under the name Plumper Pass, according to the British ship HMS Plumper.

Wildlife

In addition to sift seals, sea lions and bald eagles option in Active Pass, the area for birds is very important. Here breed or overwinter as the Pacific divers who Bonapartemöwe or from the family of the cormorants Pinselscharbe.

Accidents

Due to the narrowness of the passage and its abrupt course it came in the strait several times to shipwrecks. Major accidents are:

• August 2, 1970; in a collision between the Russian freighter Sergey Yesenin and Queen Victoria of BC Ferries, three people were killed and there was property damage in the amount of one million C $.
• August 9, 1979; the Queen of Alberni BC Ferries ferry ran into the Active Pass on reason. In addition to substantial material damage and killed a racehorse doing no people came luckily to death.