Qualla: Sechelt Inlet

Sechelt Inlet: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chris, CC BY 2.0. The isthmus is less than 1.2 kilometers wide. That narrow strip of land at the town of Sechelt is all that prevents the Sechelt Peninsula from becoming an island, and Sechelt Inlet is the body of water that almost completes the cut. This fjord on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast reaches inland from its mouth at Jervis Inlet, fed by two side-inlets and drained through a bottleneck so narrow that the sea itself becomes violent trying to pass through it. The Chinook Jargon word for what happens at that bottleneck is skookumchuck -- strong water -- and anyone who has watched the Sechelt Rapids during tidal flow understands why the name stuck.

Read more: Sechelt Inlet on Qualla

Image: Chris | CC BY 2.0

Sechelt Inlet: Strong Water at the Gate

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Travis Warford, CC BY-SA 3.0. Near its mouth, Sechelt Inlet constricts into the Skookumchuck Narrows, and the effect is dramatic. The entire tidal volume of the inlet -- along with that of Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet -- must force its way through this narrow passage. During peak flow, the water does not me...

Read more: Sechelt Inlet on Qualla

Image: Travis Warford | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sechelt Inlet: Branching Waterways

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 4.0. The inlet is not a single channel but a network. Salmon Inlet branches off to the south, extending roughly 23 kilometers to end at a small power dam where the Clowhom River enters. Narrows Inlet forks in the opposite direction, running about 15 kilometers to the mouth of the Tzoo...

Read more: Sechelt Inlet on Qualla

Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sechelt Inlet: Almost an Island

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Travis Warford, CC BY-SA 3.0. The geography here reads like a near-miss. Sechelt Inlet carves so deeply into the coast that only the slender isthmus at the town of Sechelt prevents the peninsula from floating free. Stand at the head of the inlet and you can see Sechelt's harbor on the other side -- the open w...

Read more: Sechelt Inlet on Qualla

Image: Travis Warford | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sechelt Inlet: Dolphins in the Deep

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Geordie.birch, CC BY-SA 4.0. From early April to late September 2007, more than 200 Pacific white-sided dolphins took up residence in the inlet. These social, acrobatic mammals seemed to relish the attention of their human observers, approaching boats and performing aerial displays that drew kayakers and wil...

Read more: Sechelt Inlet on Qualla

Image: Geordie.birch | CC BY-SA 4.0