Randall Island is part of the Dundas Archipelago, a group of islands in Hecate Strait on the west side of Chatham Sound between Brown and Caamaño Passages, about 74 miles (119 km) southeast of Ketchikan and 22 miles (35 km) west-northwest of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The Dundas Archipelago was named in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver for Henry Dundas, British Treasurer of the Navy from 1783 to 1801. Dundas was granted the title of Viscount Melville in 1802 and was also named Baron Dunira. Originally, Vancouver believed the archipelago to be a single landmass, which he named Dundas Island. It is now known to consist of several smaller islands, including Baron Island, Dunira Island, Melville Island, and Randall Island. Chatham Sound, on the border between British Columbia and Alaska, is part of the Inside Passage. It extends from Portland Inlet in the north to Porcher Island in the south. British Captain Charles Duncan may have named it in 1788 after John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at that time. The sound covers about 383,999 acres (155,399 ha) and connects to the open waters of Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance through several channels, including Main, Brown, Hudson Bay, and Edye Passages. At its southern end, the sound provides access to inland waterways such as Marcus and Arthur Passages and the Grenville Channel. Two major rivers drain into the sound: the Nass River via Portland Inlet and the Skeena River via the Inverness and Marcus Passages. Due to significant freshwater inflow, the sound’s salinity is lower than that of the adjacent ocean. The islands of the Dundas Archipelago are part of the Alexander terrane, a tectonic fragment underlying much of Southeast Alaska, Yukon, and British Columbia. The Alexander terrane is further divided into the Craig subterrane in the south and the Admiralty subterrane in the north, based on differences in their geologic records. The Dundas Archipelago belongs to the Craig subterrane, which consists of Late Triassic limestone, basalt–andesite, and rhyolite overlying Late Paleozoic limestone.

During the Last Glacial Maximum, about 18,000 years ago, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced over the Dundas Archipelago. Glacial ice flowed west toward the coast from the interior through major outlets, including the river valleys of the Skeena, Nass, and Stikine. As the ice retreated, postglacial rebound helped keep shorelines above the rising sea level. However, coastal archaeological sites dating to the late Pleistocene and early Holocene are rare due to rapidly changing relative sea levels. There are currently no widely accepted archaeological sites in the Americas that date to the period before the Last Glacial Maximum. The Dundas Archipelago lies within Coast Tsimshian territory, and archaeological evidence suggests that humans first appeared along the present shoreline near Prince Rupert about 5,000 years ago. Tsimshian translates to “inside the Skeena River.” At one time, the Tsimshian lived in the upper reaches of the Skeena River. According to Tsimshian oral history, after a series of disasters, a chief led a migration from the interior to the coast and established the village of Kitkatla. Over time, these coastal bands developed a new dialect of their ancestral language and came to regard themselves as a distinct population. When the Hudson’s Bay Company relocated its fort from the Nass River to present-day Port Simpson in 1834—about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the Dundas Archipelago—most of the coastal Tsimshian villages moved to what is now Lax Kw’alaams.. The islands of the Dundas Archipelago are now part of the Lax Kwaxl/Dundas and Melville Islands Conservancy. Established in 2006, the conservancy designation introduced a protected area in British Columbia. This designation is unique in that the legislation explicitly recognizes the importance of these protected areas for social, ceremonial, and cultural uses while also allowing First Nations to pursue opportunities for low-impact, sustainable economic development. The islands hold rich cultural and social significance for the Tsimshian people and contain numerous seasonal camps of historical importance that are still used for fishing and gathering subsistence foods.

The diurnal tidal fluctuation in the Dundas Archipelago is 23 feet (7 m) from maximum low tide to maximum high tide. The combination of a crenulated shoreline, large tidal fluctuations, flat topography, and strong currents has created a highly productive intertidal zone. The islands contain extensive peat bogs, and flat, poorly drained areas are widespread, characterized by sphagnum, lodgepole pine,  and yellow cedar. In better-drained areas, climax vegetation is dominated by western red cedar, red alder, and western hemlock. The terrestrial fauna is limited due to the small size and isolation of the islands. However, grey wolves were introduced in the 1980s and now inhabit the entire archipelago. The coastal wolves of British Columbia are a remnant of a much larger population that once ranged across North America. Found west of the Coast Mountains in remote temperate rainforests, these wolves are excellent swimmers, allowing them to travel between islands. Deer comprise a greater portion of the wolf diet near the mainland, whereas on isolated islands such as the Dundas Archipelago—7.5 miles (12 km) from the mainland—wolves rely more heavily on smaller prey. As island insularity increases, deer are often replaced in the diet by small mammals, birds, salmon, and seals. Reliance on salmon peaks during the fall spawning season. Coastal wolves are part of an ecosystem with a strong land-sea connection. Nutrients absorbed by salmon at sea are transferred to shore during the spawning migration. Studies of stable isotopes show that when wolves consume salmon, these nutrients pass through the food web, benefiting scavenging insects, small mammals, and even plants. Read more here and here. Explore more of Randall Island and the Dundas Archipelago here: