Denman Island

Denman Island, or Sla-dai-aich (Taystayic), its Indigenous name, is one of the Northern Gulf Islands and part of the Comox Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada, and is home to a small community of 1,165 year-round residents.[1]

Not to be confused with Denham Island (British Columbia).
Denman Island (Sla-dai-aich [k’omoks First Nation name meaning "inner island".
Denman Island looking south from Comox
Location in British Columbia
Geography
LocationStrait of Georgia
Coordinates49°33′N 124°48′W
ArchipelagoGulf Islands
Area51.03 km2 (19.70 sq mi)
Administration
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Regional districtComox Valley
Demographics
Population1,165 (2016)
Leaving Denman Island on the local Ferry

History

Denman Island was first inhabited by Indigenous peoples including the Pentlatch and Sliammon as evidenced by middens, gravesites, and oral history. It was visited and mapped by Europeans during the 1791 voyage of the Spanish ship Santa Saturnina, under Juan Carrasco and José María Narváez. It was named by Captain Richards in 1864 for Rear Admiral Joseph Denman who was commander of the Pacific station from 1864 to 1866.[2]

Denman Island life

Regular ferry service links Denman Island to both Hornby Island from Gravelly Bay on the east side of Denman and across Baynes Sound via the MV Baynes Sound Connector cable ferry to Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island on the west side. Denman Island has long been a haven for people escaping from busy urban centres. "Downtown" Denman consists of one general store, dental bus (shared with Hornby two weeks a month), two community halls, the Dora Drinkwater Volunteer Library, a community school, an Anglican church, and a museum. It is known for its dances, festivals, quiet roads, and scenery. A number of artists have made Denman Island their home for decades. The island has a land area of 51.03 square kilometres (19.70 sq mi).

The author Emily St. John Mandel spent most of her childhood on Denman Island.[3]

Vegetation and soils

The western part of Denman Island is covered by a dense forest dominated by Douglas fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar on deep loamy glacial till or marine deposits mapped as Royston gravelly loam or Tolmie-Merville complex. Some areas have shallow soils over sedimentary rock and are mapped as Haslam shaly loam or Rough Stony-Haslam complex. The eastern part has a loamy sand (Kye-Qualicum complex or Bowser series) on which arbutus is frequently present near the shore. Poorly drained depressions are mapped as Tolmie loam, Parksville sandy loam, or Arrowsmith peat.[4]

Denman Island Disease

An infectious disease among Pacific oysters was identified in 1960 off Denman Island. The disease causes visible yellow/green pustules on the body and adductor muscles of the oysters therefore reducing marketability of the oysters. It was found that the causative agent of these lesions are associated with microcells, which were later identified as Mikrocytos mackini.[5]

Provincial Parks located on Denman Island

Local media

Denman Island has a monthly news and artistic journal called the Flagstone,[6] a weekly news and advertising circular called the Grapevine,[7] a community radio station, CKLR-FM, and several active online groups, including the Denman Open Bulletin Board.

References
  1. Population calculated by combining the populations of Dissemination Areas 59260347 (666) and 59260348 (499)
  2. "Denman Island". BC Geographical Names.
  3. Kirch, Claire (9 March 2012). "Emily St. John Mandel: Once a Dancer, Now a Noir Phenom". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  4. Canada, Government of Canada; Agriculture and Agri-Food (1959). "Soil Survey of Southeast Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands, British Columbia". Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  5. Elston, R; Friedman, C; Gustafson, L; Meyer, G; Rogers, R (2015-05-21). "Denman Island disease in Washington State, USA: distribution and prevalence in Pacific and Olympia oysters". Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 114 (2): 147–154. doi:10.3354/dao02862. ISSN 0177-5103. PMID 25993889.
  6. "The Flagstone". Denman Job Board. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  7. "Home". The Islands Grapevine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

Further reading
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