Checleset Bay
{{Short description|Bay in British Columbia, Canada}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Checleset Bay
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name = {{langx|fr|Baie Checleset}}
| image = Big Bunsby Marine Park,.jpg
| image_size = 260px
| alt =
| caption = Big Bunsby Marine Provincial Park in Checleset Bay
| image_bathymetry =
| alt_bathymetry =
| caption_bathymetry =
| location = Vancouver Island, British Columbia
| group =
| coordinates = {{coord|50|05|45|N|127|35|37|W|display=it}}
| type = Bay
| etymology =
| part_of =
| inflow =
| rivers =
| outflow =
| oceans = Pacific Ocean
| catchment =
| basin_countries =
| agency =
| designation =
| date-built =
| engineer =
| date-flooded =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| depth =
| max-depth =
| volume =
| residence_time =
| salinity =
| shore =
| elevation =
| temperature_high =
| temperature_low =
| frozen =
| islands =
| islands_category =
| sections =
| trenches =
| benches =
| cities =
| pushpin_map = Canada British Columbia
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in British Columbia
| website =
| reference =
}}
Checleset Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located southeast of Brooks Peninsula and northwest of Kyuquot Sound. Much of the land around the bay is part of Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park. Checleset Bay has three large inlets, Nasparti Inlet,{{BCGNIS|24096|Nasparti Inlet}} Ououkinsh Inlet,{{BCGNIS|24175|Ououkinsh Inlet}} and Malksope Inlet.{{BCGNIS|25746|Malksope Inlet}}
Etymology
Checleset Bay was named in the late 1930s in association with the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht First Nation of nearby Kyuquot Sound. This First Nation, today officially spelled Che:k:tles7et'h', was historical spelled in various ways such as Checleset and Cheklesaht. They once occupied the shores of Checleset Bay until moving to Mission Island in the 1950s. Today they live at Houpsitas on Kyuquot Sound.{{BCGNIS|25428|Checleset Bay}}
Geography
Historically, Checleset Bay was the northernmost area of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. The land north of Checleset Bay and Brooks Peninsula was Kwakwakaʼwakw territory, with the Klaskino being the southernmost of the Kwakwakaʼwakw people. Today the Klaskino are part of the Quatsino First Nation, whose territory lies just north of Checleset Bay and Brooks Peninsula.{{cite book|last=Kimantas|first=John|title=The BC Coast Explorer Volume 1: North and West Vancouver Island|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qHrEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|access-date=6 March 2020|year=2018|publisher=Wild Coast Publishing|isbn=978-0-9879851-0-1|pages=79–81, 90–95}} The Che:k:tles7et'h' (Cheklesahht) people lived in the Checleset Bay area. Their main winter village was at Upsowis, and the summer village at Acous. Besides these there were at least 34 other village sites, 10 refuges, 8 camps, 7 fish traps, 3 fish weirs, 11 burial caves, and 2 cemeteries on the shores of Checleset Bay.
Near the mouth of Nasparti Inlet is Columbia Cove, named for the maritime fur trade ship Columbia Rediviva, which under Captain Robert Gray anchored here in June 1791 and July 1792. The name dates back to the 1790s. It was used by Gray's officer Robert Haswell and several times by John Boit in his log of the Union, which anchored in the cove in 1795.{{BCGNIS|38138|Columbia Cove}} An islet at the entrance of Columbia Cove is known as Boit Rock, after John Boit.{{BCGNIS|38121|Boit Rock}}
Deeper into Nasparti Inlet is Johnson Lagoon, an inlet-like saltwater lake narrowly connected to Nasparti Inlet.{{BCGNIS|26265|Johnson Lagoon}} Tidal currents are funneled through the narrow opening, resulting in dangerous tidal rapids.
The Acous Peninsula lies between Nasparti Inlet and Ououkinsh Inlet.{{BCGNIS|22606|Acous Peninsula}} Acous was the main Che:k:tles7et'h' (Cheklesahht) summer village, located near the point of Acous Peninsula.{{BCGNIS|63348|Acous}} Although long abandoned, the village site still contains old carvings and house posts.
Just east of Acous Peninsula, at the entrance of Ououkinsh Inlet is Battle Bay.{{BCGNIS|22704|Battle Bay}} Nearby is the former Cheklesahht village of Mahope.{{BCGNIS|63349|Mahope}}
Near the head of Ououkinsh Inlet is the mouth of the Power River,{{BCGNIS|27224|Power River}} which flows through the Hisnit River Watershed Protected Area{{BCGNIS|73941|Hisnit River Watershed Protected Area}} and Power Lake{{BCGNIS|27222|Power Lake}} before emptying into Ououkinsh Inlet near the former Cheklesahht village of Hisnit.{{BCGNIS|63356|Hisnit}} Hisnit was an important sockeye salmon fishing site. The Ououkinsh River flows into the head of Ououkinsh Inlet.{{BCGNIS|24177|Ououkinsh River}} At the river's mouth is another former Cheklesahht village, called Ououkinsh.{{BCGNIS|63354|Ououkinsh}}
Between Ououkinsh Inlet and Malksope Inlet lie the Bunsby Islands, named in 1862 by Captain George Henry Richards after a character in the Charles Dickens novel Dombey and Son.{{BCGNIS|23719|Bunsby Islands}} Among the islands is Big Bunsby Marine Provincial Park.{{BCGNIS|54198|Big Bunsby Marine Park}} Che:k'tles7et'h' Island is one of the southwesternmost Bunsby Islands. This island was once an Indian Reserve but in 2011 was transferred in fee simple to the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht First Nation.{{BCGNIS|63351|Che:k'tles7et'h' Island}}
Malksope Inlet, whose preferred modern spelling is Maq:cup, is the easternmost inlet of Checleset Bay. Near its entrance is the site of Upsowis, the former main winter village of the Cheklesahht.{{BCGNIS|63355|Upsowis}} The Malkscope (Maq:cup) River flows into the head of Malkscope Inlet.{{BCGNIS|25748|Malkscope River}} Near the river's mouth is the former Cheklesahht village Maq:cup.{{BCGNIS|63352|Maq:cup}}
Conservation
Most of Checleset Bay is protected as the {{convert|34650|ha|adj=on}} Checleset Bay Ecological Reserve, which was established in 1981 for the reintroduction of sea otters, which were once abundant but hunted to local extinction in British Columbia during the maritime fur trade era. Around 1970 89 sea otters were brought from Alaska to Checleset Bay. By 1984 there were about 200 in the reserve and about 150 more in the surrounding area. By 2013 their range had expanded over much of the coasts of western and northern Vancouver Island and elsewhere, with a total population of about 5,600.{{cite web |title=Trends in the Abundance and Distribution of Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) in British Columbia Updated with 2013 Survey Results|publisher=Department of Fisheries and Oceans |url=https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/365073.pdf |access-date=10 July 2018}}{{cite web |title=Sea Otter Recovery on Vancouver Island's West Coast |publisher=Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre Public Education Programme |url=http://www.oceanlink.info/seaotterstewardship/history1.html |access-date=22 August 2011 }}
Long designated endangered, today sea otters are designated "Special Concern" under the federal Canadian Species at Risk Act. In addition they are protected by the Marine Mammal Regulations in the federal Fisheries Act. They are listed as "Threatened" under the British Columbia Wildlife Act.{{cite web |title= Species Profile (Sea Otter) - Species at Risk Public Registry |publisher=Government of Canada |url= https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=149 |access-date=6 March 2020}} For these reasons motorized watercraft are not allowed in Checleset Bay and there are restrictions or bans on activities like fishing and camping. To land on the shore requires a request for permission. Research and educational activities require special permits.{{cite web |title= Checleset Bay Ecological Reserve |publisher=BC Parks |url=http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/eco_reserve/checleset_er.html |access-date=6 March 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{British Columbia hydrography}}
Category:Bays of British Columbia