Hecate Strait

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Islands and major straits of the northern Pacific Northwest Coast

The Hecate Strait or Strait of Hecate (Haida: Seegaay) is a wide but shallow body of water parting the Queen Charlotte Islands from the mainland of British Columbia in Canada. During the last Ice Age, the seafloor in this area was a wide coastal plain stretching south to the Olympic Peninsula and including what is now Queen Charlotte Sound.

The strait joins the Dixon Entrance in Alaska to the north and Queen Charlotte Sound to the south. It is 267 km (160 miles) long, and 64–129 km (40–80 miles) wide. The strait once contained strong salmon and halibut fisheries. The Hecate Strait, because it is so shallow, is especially susceptible to storms and violent weather. The Haida crossed the Hecate Strait to the mainland to plunder coastal villages to take slaves and booty. Only the Haida knew the real nature of the Strait's workings, and so could not be followed by the tribes of the mainland. The Hecate Strait, therefore, was one of the main defenses of the Haida people from attack.

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