Inside Passage

The Inside Passage [ ɪnsaɪd pæsɪʤ ] is a sea off the coast of Alaska (USA ) and British Columbia (Canada) with about 1000 islands.

They can be ridden by all seagoing vessels and is much frequented by shipping. BC Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry services operate. The name Inside Passage is also used for the islands along the ship's path.

The northern part of the Alaska Panhandle extends over 800 km from north to south and 160 km from east to west direction. The Canadian part is about the same dimensions. It includes in addition to the Salish Sea with the Strait of Georgia, which is connected by the narrow Discovery Passage to the Johnstone Strait, the Hecate Strait near the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Before the arrival of European settlers the northern Inside Passage of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian was settled, the southern of the Kwakwaka'wakw and Coast Salish. Because of the rich food supply on the coast had formed, in contrast to the tribes on the mainland, many settlements and hike territories.

End of the 18th century, the Inside Passage of explorers from Russia, Britain, France and Spain was visited. James Cook (1778-1779) and George Vancouver (1792-1793) were the first Britons who carried out extensive cartographic work. The colonization by European settlers began in the 19th century.

The Inside Passage

Glacier on the coast of the Inside Passage

The heaviest Shipwreck on this route took place on 24 October 1918, when the Canadian passenger ship Princess Sophia of the Canadian Pacific Railway ran in Lynn Canal on a reef and sank. All 343 passengers and crew members were killed. It is the largest to date shipping disaster on the North American west coast.