Catala Island Marine Provincial Park facts for kids
Catala Island Marine Provincial Park is a special protected area in British Columbia, Canada. It's located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, right where the Esperanza Inlet meets the ocean. This park is found between Kyuquot Sound to the north and Nootka Sound to the south.
The park covers a large area of 850 hectares (about 2,100 acres). It was officially created in July 1995 to protect its natural beauty and marine life.
Why is it called Catala Island?
One of the main islands in the park is called Catala Island. Its name comes from a map made in 1792 by a Spanish explorer named Dionisio Galiano. He originally named it Isla de Catala.
Galiano named the island after a man called Magin Catalá. Magin Catalá was a Franciscan friar, which means he was a member of a religious order. At the time, he was working as a chaplain (a religious leader) at the Spanish military base in Nootka Sound.
Magin Catalá was born in 1761 in a region of Spain called Catalonia. He traveled to Mexico in 1786. He spent 44 years working as a missionary along the Spanish-American coast. He later returned to California in 1794 and passed away in Santa Clara, California in 1830.
See also
In Spanish: Isla Catalán para niños
