File:Enebro Solitario, Turtle Island.jpg

English: Turtle Island (48O53'52"N 123O26'20"W)is a local Ecological Reserve administered by the Galiano Island Parks and Recreation Commission, a division of the Capital Regional District.

Turtle Island is the vernacular name of an islet north of Montague Harbour, surrounded by Wise, Charles and Sphinx Islands. It gets its name from its resemblance to a Turtle emerging from the water.

The island is in the form of an escarpment, with a 45-degree dip slope and an 80 - 90 degree scarp slope. It is about 50 feet high, and has roughly an acre of vegetation on top, with the two parts of the island added together, it would be about 350 feet long; the cleft is submerged at spring tide, and is surrounded by a white sand beach. There are three small trees - Rocky Mountain Junipers (Juniperus scopulorum)- along with numerous wild-rose bushes (Rosa nutkana) and other scrub trees. The bushy area extends roughly fifty feet by twenty feet.

In patches between the bushes is grass and sedge with wildflowers - Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora), Miners' Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia), Chickweed (Cerastium arvense), wild Geraniums (Geranium molle) and others. There is moss on the east face, and Reindeer Moss (Cladonia rangiferina) on the south. There is a tidal pool 2 feet in diameter, with marine life in it.

Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani), a relatively rare kind of wading bird that nests on such remote Islets, have left traces here. It is possible to see the shells of clams and tubeworms high in the plateau, presumably deposited by these birds. Bald Eagles are more commonly seen here - Eagle predation is becoming a threat to smaller birds.

The islet was originally designated "Park", i.e. a subdivision neighbourhood park at the time of the subdivision of Wise Island. It came under the authority of the Parks and Recreation Commission when this was established in 1995, and it was then decided that the islet was too inaccessible for neighbourhood use - but of great importance for wildlife.

The public is requested to respect the sanctuary by not setting foot on it.