A heavily forested island, nearly 500 feet long and 250 feet wide, appeared unexpectedly on Williston Lake in British Columbia, Canada, only to vanish within a day and reappear roughly 20 miles from its original location, according to local reports and officials.
The island, which is not on any maps or navigation charts, was first spotted in late July by a boater who captured video of nearly 100 trees undulating in the lake's chop. The footage was later posted to social media by Rocky Avery, a longtime resident and friend of the boater, to warn others of a possible hazard.
Island's sudden appearance and disappearance
Bob Gammer, a spokesperson for BC Hydro, the government-owned utility that operates the reservoir and dam, said the island was “quite something and rather unbelievable” when he first saw the images. “In the days of AI, you really needed another form of verification or evidence like a corroborating eyewitness account,” he said. “And soon, we got that.”
Satellite imagery confirmed the island was real and floating in the main body of the reservoir, roughly 60 miles west of the dam. The mystery has unfolded in the middle of Williston Lake, a long and narrow reservoir created after the W.A.C. Bennett dam flooded the region in the early 1970s. At nearly 650 square miles, it is the largest body of freshwater in the westernmost province.
Possible origins and similar phenomena
BC Hydro believes the island is the result of years of trees and plants growing largely undisturbed on woody debris along sheltered sections of the reservoir's shoreline. Similar islands have appeared globally, including Wisconsin's famed Forty Acre Bog, a giant floating island on Lake Chippewa knit together by peat, mud, roots, and trees.
Measuring roughly 125,000 square feet, the British Columbia island is bursting with life: birds and small animals live among the mix of coniferous and broadleaf trees. Observers suspect the root system in the water hides some of the lake's best fish. Gammer likened the growing conditions to hydroponics, saying, “Well-fed trees growing on a decaying food source with lots of water … they could grow pretty quick.”
Water levels and warnings
The reservoir is higher than it has been in 14 years, due to high winter snowpacks and consistent summer rains that have raised water levels in the Peace River and the lake. “Suddenly, there are all of the right conditions to potentially lift this kind of little island from where it was, and bring it out into open water,” Gammer said.
BC Hydro does not know how old the trees on the island are, but with the right conditions, the forest could “just stay there for years” and grow. Local people speculated the trees could be decades old. “It's not like they're just a bunch of little shrubs. This is an island with larger trees and it's something you really have to wrap your mind around,” said Gammer. “It's not an everyday thing. This is really really unusual.”
Rocky Avery said he would “totally jump on that island if I could,” adding, “It's probably a bit shaky on the outer sections, but with those huge trees in the centre, I imagine someone could walk on it.” However, Gammer cautioned boaters from attempting to be the first to set foot on it, warning that video shows trees moving back and forth on a “delicate, thin layer of logs,” adding it is “very unsafe” and “very unstable.”
Social media reaction and political context
Avery's social media posts prompted a flurry of excitement and a nod to the current political situation in Canada. Recently, US President Donald Trump chose to rename Lake Ontario after trade talks collapsed between the two countries, prompting anger and mockery from the Canadian public. One user commented on Avery's post, “I'm surprised Trump hasn't named [the island] and claimed it.”
