- Who knew that new islands could just float out to a lake?
Everybody’s put something down and come back for it later, only for it to have disappeared into thin air. It might happen with your keys, a drink, or your phone.
But surely you can’t misplace something as big as an island.
Canada has shown us that it is indeed possible. A mysterious series of events involving a vanishing island took place in British Columbia.
People noticed that Williston Reservoir had recently grown a new island. A huge landmass the size of two football fields miraculously appeared in the lake.
Unlike most islands, though, this one wasn’t rooted to the earth. The mystery island was a floating mass of soil that broke off from the reservoir’s shoreline and drifted to the middle of the lake.
And then it was gone. The new island disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, vanishing from satellite images and shore views alike.
Nobody knows where the lake has gone, but it probably either sank or floated back ashore. Unless it pops up in another place on Williston Reservoir, adding to the already bizarre mystery.
Mystery Appearance
Williston Reservoir is an artificial lake in British Columbia, created after the completion of the WAC Bennett Dam in 1968. So, although it’s not new on a geographical scale, it’s been there for a while and reached its full size long ago.
As such, it was quite a surprise for B.C. Hydro, British Columbia’s power management organization, when people started reporting a new island in Williston Reservoir. The reports, with accompanying pictures taken from the shore, began arriving early in July.
At first, the power company didn’t believe the stories. In fact, B.C. Hydro spokesman Bob Gammer initially dismissed the photos as AI-generated hoaxes.
“It’s certainly something we’ve not heard of before. And with not very many people reporting it, it was difficult to locate,” Gammer described his initial impressions to CBC.
However, the reports kept trickling in. On July 21, the company checked fresh satellite images taken of Williston Reservoir.
What do you know? There indeed was a new island in the lake – and it was a big one.
Floating Island
The island that suddenly popped up in the reservoir was about 230 feet long and twice as wide. That gave it a size of 2.5 acres, or about two football fields.
It wasn’t some barren hunk of rock that rose up from the bottom of the lake, either. The island was covered in fully grown trees and bushes.
Where on earth could it have come from?
A clue to the mystery lies in the fact that the island is not attached to the bottom of the lake. It’s floating freely on the lake and has likely been around for a long time.
According to Gammer, driftwood and other floating plant matter may pack together over the years and form what’s essentially a huge raft. The layer of decayed wood can be so thick that someone walking over may not even realize that they’re no longer on solid ground.
British Columbia has seen a lot of rain this summer, so it’s probably that this plant raft broke off from wherever it was attached to the soil. Winds and waves could then push the floating island out to open water, where people then noticed it.
Gone With the Wind
The island’s appearance sure was a strange phenomenon. But then things got even weirder when it vanished.
Based on most recent satellite images and eyewitness reports, the island is no longer where it was on July 21. Nobody seems to know where it has gone.
“We’ve been taking more updated snapshots and we can’t see the object anymore. So it’s disappeared now,” Gammer said.
However, he added that this doesn’t necessarily mean that the island has sunk. It may have, but it may just as well have floated back ashore somewhere else.
For now, B.C. Hydro is monitoring Williston Reservoir in case the island appears again. It’s a big and solid mass, so any boat accidentally running into it could sustain serious damage.
It’s not that B.C. Hydro can really anything about the island. But it helps to keep fishermen updated on its location, just in case.