Flora Bank is a bank in British Columbia, Canada,[4] located at the edge of Chatham Sound, between Lelu and Kitson Islands at the north entrance to Inverness Passage, south of Prince Rupert. Flora Bank is a is wide, flat, and very shallow feature, mostly at or just below sea level, because of the large tidal range in the area, it may be exposed at low tides.[2]
The bank was named after Miss Flora MacDonald, daughter of the manager of Inverness Cannery.[1]
The bank is associated wit the nearby Agnew Bank, which extends and diversifies Flora Bank's vegetated (seagrass meadow) ecosystem with non-vegetated (soft sediment) habitats.[5]
Ecology
Flora Bank is recognized as one of the largest eelgrass beds in British Columbia, representing 50–60% of tidal and subtidal eelgrass habitat in the Skeena estuary,[6] and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans have identified the area as important habitats for Skeena River juvenile salmon, as well as important eulachon habitat.[7] Flora Bank is known as a critical habitat for juvenile epibenthic feeder species, such as chum, chinook, and pink salmon, which spend the early part of their marine life in shallow eelgrass beds and sheltered subestuaries.[8]
Geography
A unique geomorphic feature, there is no geomorphological term or name that can be applied to define Flora Bank.[3] While the sediments of the Flora Bank are from 8000-year-old glacial deposits, the processes sustaining the bank by holding its sediments in place are still not fully understood.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Flora Banks". BC Geographical Names.
- ^ a b c "Supplemental Modelling Report – Flora Bank" (PDF). Government of Canada. Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ^ a b Mazumder, Asit (June 2016). Pacific North West LNG Project: A review and assessment of the project plans and their potential impacts on marine fish and fish habitat in the Skeena estuary (PDF) (Report). University of Victoria.
- ^ "Flora Bank". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2026-01-01.
- ^ Stantec Consulting Ltd. (2015). Appendix M: Marine Fish and Fish Habitat (pdf). Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (Report). Government of Canada. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
- ^ Carr-Harris, Charmaine; Gottesfeld, Allen S.; Moore, Jonathan W. (2015). "Juvenile Salmon Usage of the Skeena River Estuary". PLOS ONE. 10 (3) e0118988. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1018988C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118988. PMC 4352006. PMID 25749488.
- ^ "Flora Bank Eelgrass Survey" (PDF). World Wildlife Fund. May 2009. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ^ B.A. Faggetter. "Comments on the Pacific NorthWest LNG Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Assessment Certificate Application" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ^ "The Environmental Implications of Sediment Transport in the Waters of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada: A Comparison Between Kinematic and Dynamic Approaches". Journal of Coastal Research. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
