Where is the underwater explosions taking place in southern Vancouver island waters!

1. Where the “underwater explosions” are being reported: a short geographic split

Local reporting about planned explosions refers to Bentinck Island, a land‑based demolition range near Rocky Point off Vancouver Island’s southern tip in the Strait of Juan de Fuca; those are scheduled controlled military detonations between Nov. 17–21 and Nov. 24–26 during daytime hours ^[1]. By contrast, scientific outlets have written about a deep‑sea seismic swarm and a possible magma rupture roughly 260 kilometres west of Tofino — a deep‑water geologic event, not a military demolition, and far offshore in the open Pacific ^{[2] [3]}.

2. What the Bentinck Island activity actually is — military training, not volcanic

News coverage describes the Bentinck Island activity as military detonations at a land‑based demolition range used for training and trials; the report states the detonations occur on the island and are guided by mitigation procedures including third‑party marine mammal observers and acoustic monitoring to advise staff when the range is clear of whales prior to demolitions ^[1]. Local navy training coverage from other reporting shows similar practices: sentries on boats, third‑party underwater microphones, and efforts to keep civilian craft and marine mammals away from the blast area ^[4].

3. The deep‑sea earthquake swarm is a separate scientific story far offshore

Ocean Networks Canada and coverage by CBC, CTV and local outlets reported a dramatic increase in small earthquakes — up to 200 per hour — in a deep region about 260 km west of Vancouver Island; scientists said that could presage a magma rupture or underwater eruption several kilometres beneath the seafloor, but they characterized it as a scientific event that would be mostly detectable by instruments rather than causing major surface hazard ^{[2] [3] [5]}. That location and mechanism are distinct from military demolitions near the island.

4. Why confusion happens: similar words, very different causes and distances

“Explosion,” “detonation,” “eruption,” and “rupture” are used across military and geologic reporting, and that semantic overlap fuels misunderstanding. The Bentinck Island blasts are scheduled, land‑based training detonations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (near Rocky Point) with mitigation protocols ^{[1] [4]}. The deep‑sea activity is a natural tectonic/magmatic process hundreds of kilometres offshore and kilometres deep, which scientists expect would be detectable primarily by underwater sensors ^{[2] [3]}.

5. What the coverage does and does not say about impacts

Reports on the Bentinck Island detonations emphasize mitigation to limit acoustic impacts on marine mammals and the use of observers and acoustic monitoring, suggesting an attempt to reduce harm though specific monitoring results are not detailed in the cited article ^[1]. Reporting on the deep‑sea swarm notes scientists expect any rupture to be small and largely of scientific interest, not a surface disaster — however, available sources do not give a full environmental impact assessment or long‑term monitoring results tied to either event ^{[2] [3]}.

6. Historical context that can skew perception of scale

British Columbia has a history of large planned non‑nuclear blasts — most famously the 1958 Ripple Rock removal in the Discovery Passage — which remains a touchstone in public memory when any large blast is discussed; that event was an engineered underwater explosion near Campbell River, but it’s a historical, separate case often evoked for comparison ^{[6] [7] [8]}. Comparing current controlled demolitions or seismic events to Ripple Rock can exaggerate perceived danger if location, scale and intent aren’t distinguished.

7. Practical takeaway and how to verify ongoing activity

If you’re near the southern tip of Vancouver Island and heard or saw activity, the local military detonations on Bentinck Island (Strait of Juan de Fuca, Rocky Point area) are the likeliest source for scheduled daytime blasts Nov. 17–21 and Nov. 24–26; for deep‑sea seismic activity, check updates from Ocean Networks Canada and regional science reporting for instrument detections and official advisories about offshore eruptions ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Available sources do not mention emergency evacuation orders or widescale surface hazards tied to either the Bentinck Island training detonations or the offshore seismic swarm ^{[1] [2]}.