VICTORIA A massive glacial landslide that sent debris toward Bute Inlet on B.C.’s northwest coast has destroyed an already at-risk habitat, a local First Nation says. Homalco First Nation Chief Darren Blaney said the slide wiped out the coho salmon habitat in the inlet. “All the gravel that was there for the chum washed away, so it lost a lot of chum-spawning areas,” he said. “Certainly, it will affect our food security, with the chum stocks in decline. Southgate (River) was one of the more productive rivers in our territory. It’ll have an impact for sure.”
Researchers seek cause of massive B.C. rockslide that carved a new canyon
A research team is flying up to the source of a massive landslide that ripped through a valley on B.C. s Central coast in late November, in an attempt to pinpoint a cause.
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Posted: Dec 15, 2020 7:19 PM PT | Last Updated: December 16, 2020
A helicopter pilot flies over Elliot Creek, after a huge landslide swept through the area, sending massive amounts of wood and debris into Bute Inlet.(Bastian Fleury/49 North Helicopters)
An enormous landslide that tore through a remote valley in B.C. s Central Coast region and spilled into Bute Inlet in November has put the beleaguered salmon stocks in the area at further risk, according to the elected chief of the local First Nation.
Homalco First Nation Chief Darren Blaney is planning to visit the slide area about 120 kilometres north of Powell River and 220 kilometres northwest of Vancouver by helicopter on Wednesday, but he told CBC News it s clear from photos that the slide was extremely destructive, pushing boulders down the valley and crushing dislodged trees.
An enormous landslide has scoured the watershed of a remote B.C. inlet and triggered a wave of debris that has wiped out critical salmon and grizzly habitat, and is causing hazards for marine traffic in the region.
Helicopter pilot Bastian Fleury surveyed the devastation along the 12-kilometre slide down the Southgate River that has also pushed trees, rocks and mud into Bute Inlet on B.C.’s central coast.
“It has destroyed a lot of the forest, and there is lots and lots of flooding everywhere in the valley and the inlet,” said Fleury.
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Mon, 14 Dec 2020 21:33 UTC
Video shot from a helicopter Sunday shows a huge landslide in a remote area of B.C. north of Powell River.
Staff at 49 North Helicopters, located in Campbell River on Vancouver Island, said they heard about an unusual amount of wood floating in Bute Inlet on the weekend.
They decided to fly up the inlet, on B.C. s central coast, to the Southgate River where they filmed miles and miles of water, mud and floating debris.
Brent Ward, from the Department of Earth Sciences and a member of the Centre for National Hazards Research at Simon Fraser University, said it appears to have been a glacial lake outburst flood that occurred at Elliot Creek just east of the head of Bute Inlet.