A floating island that baffled observers after seemingly disappearing from one of Canada's largest reservoirs has been found. BC Hydro said on Wednesday that the floating island on British Columbia's Williston Reservoir had been located after drifting roughly 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) over a 15-day period. The island, which became an international curiosity after it surfaced near Finlay Bay and then appeared to vanish, was found along the shoreline of the reservoir's Ospika Arm.
The discovery comes after BC Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer told Newsweek there had been no eyewitness sightings for weeks. The island was located along the shoreline of the Ospika Arm of Williston Reservoir, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of where it was first documented near Finlay Bay, according to BC Hydro. Officials said the floating island had not vanished at all.
Instead, it had drifted across the reservoir over a period of about 15 days before coming to rest against the shoreline. The utility company said the island's location was confirmed using a combination of satellite imagery, observations from small aircraft and reports from boaters. "We found the island," BC Hydro said in a social media update.
"Turns out it wasn't missing. Just drifting." The mystery began when satellite imagery captured on July 21 showed a tree-covered floating island west of Finlay Bay on British Columbia's Williston Reservoir. BC Hydro received reports, photos and videos of the unusual landmass from local boaters on August 13, but by then the island could no longer be found in its original location.
As searches continued, the island's disappearance attracted international attention and prompted speculation about where it had gone. The mystery was eventually solved after BC Hydro reviewed satellite imagery from August 15 showing the island on the reservoir's Ospika Arm, about 30 kilometers northwest of where it was first documented. The utility confirmed the location on August 31 and announced the discovery on September 2.
A floating island is a mass of vegetation, soil and organic material that is able to float on the surface of a body of water. While small floating islands can be found in lakes, wetlands and reservoirs around the world, examples large enough to support mature trees are relatively uncommon. Researchers do not yet know exactly how the island formed.
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