A small floating island on a lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia has been spotted again after officials lost sight of it in satellite images after its initial discovery.
The forested island was first spotted in the middle of Williston Reservoir, British Columbia’s largest freshwater lake, in early August by boaters who captured the scene in a video that has since gone viral.
A satellite image from late July confirmed the existence of the island, which is about the size of one and a half American football fields. But a few weeks later, he disappeared from that place.
British Columbia authorities say they have been able to locate it again near the coast, although it is not clear where it came from.
Bob Gammer, a spokesman for BC Hydro, a government-owned utility that maintains the reservoir and a nearby dam, first learned of the island’s existence after watching a video circulating on Canadian social media pages.
The video, taken by boaters, shows an expanse of forested land that appeared to float in the water.
Gammer said he initially thought it was an AI-generated clip.
“I thought, well, this could be anywhere,” he told the BBC. “Maybe it’s not real.”
But a satellite image obtained by his team on July 21 confirmed that it was real and that it was, in fact, floating in the middle of the reservoir in a remote northern part of the province.
However, the island appeared to have disappeared in a satellite image taken a few weeks later on August 5. His disappearance was covered by several international media outlets, generating intrigue around the world.
“We just don’t know where he went,” Gammer said. “Did it sink? Did it find its way to another corner of the reservoir?”
Gammer said he can now resolve the questions. The island, he said, appears to have simply drifted toward the coast and landed about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from where it was first sighted.
This was confirmed by a new satellite image and a couple of testimonies from pilots flying overhead, he said.
BC Hydro estimates the island is 9,800 square meters, or one hectare, about the size of a Canadian football field or 1.5 American football fields.
As for its origins, Gammer said BC Hydro isn’t entirely sure yet, but there is a strong theory: the island likely formed over many years from the accumulation of driftwood that served as a base for plants and trees to take root.
He added that he believes it broke away from the shoreline of the reservoir this summer when water levels rose to a level not seen since 2012.
Floating islands have been seen elsewhere.
One such island in Wisconsin’s Lake Chippewa is known as Forty Acre Bog. It is believed to be the result of peat bogs breaking away from the bottom of the lake and floating to the surface.
Some years, local boaters push the floating marsh to prevent it from drifting onto the local bridge.
It is home to diverse wildlife, according to the Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association, such as frogs and salamanders, and, like the rest of the lake and its shoreline, is legally protected by state laws.
Local resident Cheryl Treland told Wisconsin Public Radio in 2024 that the swamp is “like an iceberg.”
“This is not like a leaf floating on the surface of the water,” he said.
Gammer warned that the island in British Columbia is not a stable structure and advised against trying to set foot on it.
“It’s remote and most people will never go near it,” he said.
For those with the means and drive to search for it, it had this warning: “Stay away from the island. It could break.”
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