Glass Sponge Reefs Protected Areas

Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area is part of the Tentative list of Canada in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

Hexactinellid (glass) sponge reefs are located between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound considered to be the largest living example of glass sponge reefs that were abundant in the Jurassic Period, provide a unique window onto marine life in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, a rare insight into the biology and ecology of the Mesozoic ocean. The reefs are also shelter to numerous species including commercially important and endangered rockfish.