Flora Bank

Flora Bank
Looking southward over the Flora Bank
Flora Bank
Coordinates	54°11′N130°18′W / 54.183°N 130.300°W / 54.183; -130.300 [1]
Max. length	2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) [2]
Max. width	1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) [2]
Surface area	4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) [3]

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

1. "Flora Banks". BC Geographical Names .
2. "Supplemental Modelling Report – Flora Bank" (PDF). Government of Canada. Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
3. 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.
4. "Flora Bank". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2026-01-01.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. "Flora Bank Eelgrass Survey" (PDF). World Wildlife Fund . May 2009. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
8. B.A. Faggetter. "Comments on the Pacific NorthWest LNG Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Assessment Certificate Application" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
9. "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.