Kingcome Inlet facts for kids
Kingcome Inlet is a beautiful and long arm of the sea, also known as a fjord, located on the British Columbia Coast in Canada. It stretches inland from the ocean, north and east of Broughton Island. Imagine a deep, narrow valley filled with seawater, surrounded by tall mountains – that's a fjord!
Kingcome Inlet is one of the important fjords in this area. It's about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide on average. Even though it's quite wide, it's only about 35 kilometers (22 miles) long. It starts at the mouth of the Kingcome River and reaches all the way to Sutlej Channel, which then connects to a bigger waterway called the Queen Charlotte Strait. A smaller arm of the inlet, called Wakeman Sound, branches off and is fed by the Wakeman River.
The area around Kingcome Inlet is home to the Kwakwakaʼwakw people, who are an Indigenous group. There are two communities here:
- The community of Kingcome is located a few miles up the Kingcome River. It used to be a place where fish were canned.
- The community of Kingcome Inlet is right on the west side of where the Kingcome River meets the inlet.
How Kingcome Inlet Got Its Name
Kingcome Inlet was named after a very important person from the past: Captain John Kingcome. He was a captain of a troopship called HMS Simoom.
Later in his career, Captain Kingcome became a high-ranking officer called a Rear Admiral. From 1863 to 1864, he was in charge of the Royal Navy's ships in the Pacific Ocean, a group known as the Pacific Station. His main ship, or flagship, was called HMS Sutlej. The inlet was named in his honor to remember his service.
