Fin Island is a remote, uninhabited island southwest of Hartley Bay — completely off-grid, only reachable by boat or float plane, and home to a BC Whales Research Station that overlooks Squally Channel which is a prime whale-watching area. It is part of the Lax Kwil Dziidz/Fin Conservancy, and is traditional territory of the Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations.
This new-to-us-spot was a hit! (Credit to Ralph on Kali for choosing it for us!) We anchored in beautiful Hawk Inlet and then took the dinghies out to explore.
We noticed a bright spot at the south end of the inlet entrance as we came in and wanted to get a better look. It looked like a white sandy/shell area, and is likely the shell midden referenced on the Conservancy website. (Note from the internet: Shell middens are ancient archaeological deposits composed predominantly of discarded mollusk shells, animal bones, and cultural artifacts. Accumulated by coastal indigenous populations over centuries, these alkaline-rich mounds neutralize soil acidity, creating unique environments that preserve organic materials and offer profound insights into past diets and ecologies.”
The tide is very high right now, so I’m guessing we’ll see this much more clearly at low tide.
We had dinner on Kali (Ralph made lasagna and baked bread, and I sautéed some asparagus to go with), and then we watched some soccer!
Kevin took the drone up for some aerial shots of the anchorage and surrounding areas. Gorgeous!
This is Curlew Bay, on the north side of Fin Island:
View from the flybridge of Airship:
Water in the bay was perfectly still overnight and in the morning, a minus 0.5 foot tide showed us much more of the shoreline.
This is the area we saw that we think is likely the shell midden, now uncovered by the tide:
Just around the corner as we were exiting the inlet…humpbacks!
What a wonderful way to start the day!