Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Comox is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life attracted First Nations, who called the area kw'umuxws.
Courtenay is a city of about 26,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest community and only city in the area commonly known as the Comox Valley, and the seat of the Comox Valley Regional District, which replaced the Comox-Strathcona Regional District. Courtenay is 4 km (2.5 mi) west of the town of Comox, 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of the village of Cumberland, 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the unincorporated settlement of Royston, and 108 km (67 mi) northwest of Nanaimo. Along with Nanaimo and Victoria, it is home to The Canadian Scottish Regiment, a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Quadra Island is a large island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, in the Strathcona Regional District.
The Regional District of Comox-Strathcona was a regional district of British Columbia, Canada, from 1967 to 2008. On February 15, 2008, the regional district was abolished and replaced by two successor regional districts, Comox Valley and Strathcona.
The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland, and the unincorporated settlements of Royston, Union Bay, Fanny Bay, Black Creek, and Merville. The communities of Denman Island and Hornby Island are also considered part of the Comox Valley. The Comox Valley contains the 47th largest metropolitan area in Canada with a population of about 76,000 as of 2022.
Denman Island,, is one of the Northern Gulf Islands and part of the Comox Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member of the Islands Trust group of islands and is home to a small community of 1391 year-round residents.
Collinson Point Provincial Park is a provincial park on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located between Mount Galiano and the western approaches to Active Pass. The area is 23.68 hectares, with approximately 500 metres of waterfront.
Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park covers 23 hectares of the Bulkley River Valley, on the east side of Driftwood Creek, a tributary of the Bulkley River, 10 km northeast of the town of Smithers. The park is accessible from Driftwood Road from Provincial Highway 16. It was created in 1967 by the donation of the land by the late Gordon Harvey (1913–1976) to protect fossil beds on the east side of Driftwood Creek. The beds were discovered around the beginning of the 20th century. The park lands are part of the asserted traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation.
Helliwell Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada located on a headland at the northeast end of Hornby Island.
Miracle Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Located between Comox and Campbell River, the park includes a foreshore area in the Strait of Georgia, much of the Black Creek estuary, and a forested area. According to its Master Plan, it fulfills primarily a recreational role with a focus on beach play, picnicking, nature appreciation, and camping, and a secondary conservation role with a focus on the natural shoreline and estuary. In support of its recreational focus the park is developed with a day-use parking area with accessible trails leading to the shoreline and a camping area with 200 drive-in sites. The park is also hosts a nature centre building and a sheltered group picnic shelter. Vegetation in the park is typical for the region's second-growth forests with Douglas-fir most prominent. Common associates include Western hemlock, Sitka spruce, red alder and bigleaf maple. Salal and sword fern are the most abundant shrub. Black Creek, which flows through the park, is a spawning area for coho salmon.
Mount Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park is a Class-A provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located on the southwest coast of Hornby Island. It covers an area of 187 hectares, stretching from the Shingle Spit ferry landing in the west to Ford Cove in the east.
Tribune Bay Provincial Park is a provincial park located on Hornby Island in British Columbia, Canada. It features a broad, crescent-shaped beach of white sand, Tribune Bay, and spring wildflowers. There are opportunities for canoeing, fishing, hiking, tennis, picnicking and open water swimming. Six pit toilets are provided.
Eagle Heights is an elevated area located south of Koksilah Ridge on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is centered at 48°40′N, 123°46′W. Its summit lies about 836 meters above sea level. Populated areas where it is visible include North Saanich, Sidney, and Shawnigan Lake.
The Comox Valley Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It was created on February 15, 2008, encompassing the southeastern portions of the former Regional District of Comox-Strathcona, and centred about the Comox Valley. The partition left the new Comox Valley Regional District with only 8.4 percent of the former Comox-Strathcona's land area, but 57.9 percent of its population. The CVRD covers an area of 2,425 square kilometres, of which 1,725 square kilometres is land, and serves a population of 72,445 according to the 2023 Census. The district borders the Strathcona Regional District to the northwest, the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District to the southwest, and the Regional District of Nanaimo to the southeast, as well as the qathet Regional District along the Strait of Georgia to the east.
Gwawinapterus beardi is a species of saurodontid ichthyodectiform fish from the Late Cretaceous period of British Columbia, Canada. While initially described as a very late-surviving member of the pterosaur family Istiodactylidae, further examination has cast doubt on the identification of the specimen as a pterosaur, and research published in 2012 identified the remains as having come from a saurodontid fish.
The Northumberland Formation is a Late Cretaceous (?Campanian-?Maastrichtian)-aged geologic formation in Canada. It belongs to the larger Nanaimo Group. Indeterminate bird and pterosaur fossils have been recovered from the formation, as well as a potential gladius of Eromangateuthis. An extensive diversity of shark teeth is known from the formation; many appear to be closely allied with modern deep-water shark taxa, suggesting a deep-water environment for the formation. The most well-known exposures of the formation are on Hornby Island.
Little River Nature Park is a protected area on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley Regional District. It is home to beaches, man-made ponds, an estuarine marsh, and well-drained forests dominated by Douglas-fir. The park is underlain by sand and gravel which was locally extracted in open pits; these have since become the ponds.
Maaqwi is an extinct genus of large marine diving bird from the Late Cretaceous of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada. The genus name Maaqwi comes from the Coast Salish "ma'aqwi" meaning "water bird," and the specific epithet cascadensis reflects the fossil's origin from the Cascadia region of Western North America. The genus is known from a single specimen, RBCM.EH2008.011.01120. It consists of a coracoid, humerus, ulna, and radius in a nodule of mudstone. The specimen is housed in the Royal British Columbia Museum. Maaqwi had an estimated body mass of 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). Although initially described as a vegaviid, the German paleontologist Gerald Mayr suggested that this genus more likely belongs to the Procellariiformes.
Apatorhamphus is an extinct genus of azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Kem Kem Group of Morocco. It might have been part of the Chaoyangopteridae. It is only known from a few snout fragments and it likely had a wingspan of between 3–7 metres (9.8–23.0 ft)
