Ucluelet Harbour Webcam
Ucluelet Harbour
This webcam is mounted on the Huu-pa-tuu Business Center. “Huu-pa-tuu” means Sunset Beach in the Yuu-thluth-aht First Nation language. Ucluelet is a small coastal village on the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
Ucluelet (pronounced /ˌjuˈkluː.lət/) is a district municipality (population about 1,500) on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Ucluelet means “people of the safe harbour” in the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) language.
Ucluelet is located at the northern edge of Barkley Sound, 288 kilometres northwest of the British Columbia provincial capital, Victoria, on the outer west coast of Vancouver Island.
The closest city is Port Alberni approximately 100 km to the east. The District of Tofino is 40 km northwest of Ucluelet on Highway 4.
In between Tofino and Ucluelet is the Long Beach unit of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Barkley Sound lies southeast of Ucluelet and is a marine area that features the Broken Islands Group unit of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The fishing and scientific research community of Bamfield lies on its farther shore, and is the site of Kiix?in (Keeshan), a major archaeological site and National Historic Site of Canada protecting a Nuu-chah-nulth fortress.
Archaeological evidence indicated the presence of First Nations along the outer west coast of Vancouver Island for at least 4,300 years. British Columbia’s recorded history began with European explorers searching for the legendary Northwest Passage.
It was on the west coast of Vancouver Island, at Nootka Sound, 100 km north of Ucluelet, that Juan Pérez anchored and traded in 1774. In 1775 Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra sailed along the coast of Vancouver Island, heading north for Alaska. He did not stop but roughly charted the coast in the vicinity of Kyuquot Sound.[1] Captain James Cook of the British Navy anchored in Nootka Sound and went ashore in 1778. Maritime fur traders followed, such as Charles William Barkley, captain of the Imperial Eagle, who in 1787 arrived near Ucluelet harbour in Barkley Sound in search of sea otter pelts.
In 1870, fur sealers came to the area seeking ports for vessels working the Bering Sea sealing grounds. Captain Francis, the owner of several sealing schooners, established a trading post in Ucluelet harbour. Ucluelet began to grow along with the sealing industry and became a bustling little town. In the 1890’s more settlers began arriving on the news of pending road access from Port Alberni. Fishing was excellent and gold was to be found on Florencia Bay. The stories of gold were correct, but it was so fine and in such little quantity that it could not be worked profitably.
The Presbyterian Church built a Mission House and school and a doctor was dispatched to the area in 1898. By 1900, more settlers had moved to the west coast of Vancouver Island. Development began bringing infrastructure and services of all kinds. The Canadian Pacific Railway operated a small freight boat sailing from Victoria three times a month. In 1903 a whaling station was established in Barkley Sound. In Ucluelet a lighthouse, a government telegraph office, and a lifeboat station were built. As the First World War began, the fishing industry had started.
When World War II began the Government of Canada took measures to protect Vancouver Island’s west coast from potential invasions. The military established a seaplane base in Ucluelet and a land base at Long Beach. The road to Tofino, which had been worked on for thirty years was finally completed.
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