Moira Sound

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Moira Sound is a branching inlet on the east side of the southern end of Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, inside the Tongass National Forest. The entrance lies on the west side of Clarence Strait, about 25 miles north of Cape Chacon, and is about 2 miles wide. The sound ventures about 6 miles into the island, then turns northwest for 6–8 miles toward Cholmondeley Sound and Tliakak Bay. The land around Moira Sound is high and steep near Clarence Strait, but north of Wedge Island the shores are straight and the interior is mountainous with pine forests reaching down to the water.

The best entrance is between Adams Point and Moira Rock, and the water generally runs deep. The southern shore has several small indentations, islands, rocks, and reefs. About 8 miles from Moira Rock the sound divides into Western Arm (about 2.5 miles long) and South Arm (about 5 miles long) which has reefs exposed at low tide.

There are several groups of islands across the entrance. The two main ones are Moira Rock, a bare 30-foot-high rock with a light, and White Rock, which is the bare northeast face of the southeastern large wooded island. There is no passage into Moira Sound south of White Rock. Between Moira Rock and the first island to the southeast are three kelp-marked rocks that are awash at low tide. A kelp patch lies about 3/8 to 1/2 mile north-northeast of White Rock, and a bare ledge lies about 0.25 miles east-northeast of that rock. Adams Point, the north entrance point, marks the eastern end of a high peninsula formed by the North Arm and Port Johnson.

In 1914, prospecting around Moira Sound was mostly limited to annual assessment work. The copper mines in Moira North Arm and Mineral Lake were idle, and the Navaho (Hope) claim between Cannery Cove and North Arm had little activity. Only one person lived in the area and did occasional prospecting. The region’s strongly faulted and deformed rocks made mining difficult and expensive. A small prospect exists in the small bend north of Black Point at the entrance of Niblack Anchorage, where a lead was opened by a vertical shaft and a short adit. The country rock there is an eastward-dipping agglomeratic or pyroclastic igneous rock, with nearby black shales and slates.

Coordinates: 55°02′12″N 132°04′12″W (approximately 55.0367°N, 132.0700°W).