Snake Island is a small, uninhabited, rocky island northeast of Nanaimo. It is a minor member of the large group of islands east of southern Vancouver Island called the Gulf Islands. It is a bird sanctuary to nesting bird breeds of Glaucous-winged Gulls and Pelagic Cormorants. [1] The island is a frequent destination for local wildlife tours, and the rocky shores and reefs around the island are popular with divers. It is also home to a colony of harbour seals who have become accustomed to divers in the water, and will interact with them. The Island may get its name from the image of a snake’s head that appears in the coastal rocks at low tide.
Snake Island is near the site of the artificial reef created by the sinking of HMCS Cape Breton, a Second World War Victory ship. [2] The vessel was acquired and prepared by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia.
