Foghorns and the Changing Coastal Soundscape
Technology and politics are changing the tune of the maritime chorus
April 20, 2012 | 3:46 PM | By Craig Miller and with thanks to Climate Watch
Read the full text version of this story at KQED’s QUEST site. (more photos – retlkpr)
East Brother Island, with the 19th-century lighthouse on the left and fog signal building on the right. Continue reading Foghorns and the Changing Coastal Soundscape
Deadline Looms for Canada’s Lighthouses
From: “Heritage Foundation of Canada” HeritageCanadaFoundation@heritagecanada.org
Subject: HCF / FHC Communiqué :
Deadline Looms for Canada’s Historic Lighthouses
Date sent: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:11:01 +0000
Deadline Looms for Canada’s Historic Lighthouses
Ottawa, ON, March 23, 2012 – The Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF) is urging Canadians to sign a petition http://www.savecanadaslighthouses.ca/ to help save Canada’s historic lighthouses.
The Government of Canada owns hundreds of iconic lighthouses, and has declared almost all of them to be “surplus”. Canadians have until May 29, 2012 to nominate lighthouses that matter to them for designation under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. However, almost all of them will require a proposal from an organization or group willing to acquire and invest in them. Continue reading Deadline Looms for Canada’s Lighthouses
In the early days of exploration a flag of ownership was placed upon new-found-lands to claim ownership, even though on the other side of the island, or bay there may have been another flag from a different country.
One problem with a flag – it doesn’t last very long.
But build a lighthouse and claim ownership and that light is visible to all peoples for years into the future. Build it high enough and it is visible for 360 degrees. Put some men on it and it becomes your property. Hmmm!
Right now in the news there are two island disputes in the South China Sea area that involve China and the Philippines – a stand-off over the Panatag Shoal (Huangyan Island; aka Scarborough Shoal) where China is contesting the Philippines’ internationally recognised exclusive economic zone, and China and Japan – an age-old dispute surrounding the group of islands called Senkaku by the Japanese and Diaoyu by the Chinese.
Reprinted with permission from Jack Knox, Times Colonist
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Imagine the fuss if the owner of a 152-year-old downtown heritage building just walked away from the structure, allowed it to crumble.
But the Race Rocks lighthouse isn’t downtown. It’s plunked in the waters off Metchosin, as out-of-sight, out-of-mind as many of the other West Coast lighthouses that Pat Carney worries about.
That’s why Saturna Island’s Carney is sounding the alarm (or perhaps the foghorn) about a rapidly approaching deadline that could determine whether lights stand or fall.
This has been an ongoing battle for the former senator and Mulroney-era cabinet minister who, even retired from politics, remains a fierce advocate for B.C.’s coastal communities. This fight goes back years and years, a reaction to Ottawa’s history of tearing down, burning down or neglecting-to-death light stations it no longer valued. Continue reading New Threat to Lighthouses Illuminated
The article I posted earlier about the storm at Cape Scott brought to mind a story I had written for the old website. This story (below) brought to the attention of the government one of the important attributes of BC lighthouse keepers – they are on-site!
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On Thursday October 12, 1984 Roger Mogg (my assistant) and I were up at the helicopter pad at McInnes Island lighthouse enjoying the clear Fall weather after lunch. We had been shooting clay pigeons with our shotguns and a newly acquired launcher. The wind was light, with very few clouds in the sky, so it made a perfect day for target practice in between weather reports.
Just then Karen called up that Stan at Egg Island had just notified the Coast Guard radio station in Bull Harbour that he had unexpected high winds and seas. Roger and I looked at each other and joked that Stan must have been into his home-made wine again! Looking down towards Calvert Island (between us and Egg Island) from our location on the helo (helicopter) pad we could see only clear sky with a trace of cirrus cloud. Calvert was over forty miles (64 kms) away and we could just see the top of it on the horizon. Egg Island was further south still. Continue reading The Storm of October 1984
Latitude 49 18 50.4N, Longitude 123 08 29.1W List of Lights #392
Established: October 01, 1888 Automated: January 1926
Three nautical miles east of Point Atkinson, situated at the base of a cliff, stands the lonely and short-lived lighthouse called Prospect Point.
The light was first manned in October 1888 and was overshadowed by the importance of the Signal Station on the cliff above. This signal station operated in conjunction with Brockton Point to signal when ships were coming into or out of Vancouver Harbour.
In January 1926 the poor lightkeeper was informed by the Department of Marine and Fisheries that the lighthouse would be electrified and would then be operated by the Prospect Point Signal Station. He was out of a job after years keeping both systems working.
Prospect Point Lighthouse keeper’s house 1920 – 1930
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
Prospect Point Lighthouse (bottom) Signal Station (top)
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
Princess Victoria passing Prospect inbound 1920 – 1930
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
Princess Patricia Passing Prospect 1920 – 1930
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
SS Prince Rupert Passing Prospect 1920 – 1930
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
Prospect Point Signal Station 1920 – 1930
Photo by Cyril R. Littlebury from Dudley Booth Collection
The photo below shows what replaced the lighthouse – a concrete block structure with a light on top and several small electric foghorns.
Prospect Point 2006
Photo from Imran Flickr pages
Prospect Point 2006
Modern light, modern ship
Photo from pwhsu48 Webshots page.
As mentioned above, the Prospect Point and Brockton Point signal stations monitored ship traffic in and out of Vancouver harbour.
Just across the harbour from Prospect Point, at the mouth of the Capilano river, was the tiny little-known Capilano lighthouse (aka First Narrows). (see Capilano webpage here.)
Below is a photo taken from the mouth of the Capilano River showing Prospect Point today and the the probable view from the Capilano lighthouse. Beside it is a Google Earth map showing the exact location of the three lighthouses.
Prospect Point 2006 From mouth of Capilano river
Notice – no signal station
Photo from Glamorous_Life Flickr page.
Google Earth map Showing Vancouver harbour lights
Photo from Google Earth printout.
In this 360° view you can see Prospect Point off the right-hand side of the bridge. As the scene sweeps across the harbour, The sandbanks of the Capilano River come into view with the dolphin visible in deeper water. (Zoom in using Shift, and out with Ctrl key; Pause by clicking on photo).
| Keepers | ||
| John Grove | PLK (1888-1926) | |
Automated in 1926, this video shows what some governments wish to do with automated lighthouses. They cannot just leave it alone as a lighthouse and a monument. No, they dream of turning it into a concession stand selling soft drinks and candy bars to the tourists! This was June 28, 2006. Luckily it was turned down by the public, but what comes next?
[media url=”https://ccanadaht3.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Brockton-Point.flv” width=”400″ height=”350″]
Automated in 1977, these videos show what happens to a sadly neglected automated lighthouse. What a place for a B&B! Thanks to Discovery Island website for the information. Just for your information discoveryisland.ca does not seem to be working anymore.
The two following videos I found on Youtube were originally posted by the website discoveryisland.ca
Take a look at the tower and lantern that the keepers so meticulously maintained.
Originally the keepers at Discovery Island would manual record the wind speed and direction, air temperature, sea temperature, humidity, sea level pressure, wave height, ocean swell height and direction, visibility and sky condition and then report it back via radio about seven times a day. Now due to the automation of the lighthouse the weather reports have gone the same way.
The new weather Instrument are mounted on the top of the tower and measure the wind speed and temperature and then automaticly report it back to Environment Canada, when it is not broken.
Only twenty-seven MANNED lighthouses are remaining says the government!
This is how you go about saving a lighthouse. Work for it! Work together for it. Councillor Rob Lantz of Charlottetown electoral ward 3 (Brighton), Charlottetown, PEI, Canada has given me permission to repost this article here from his Ward 3 Brighton blog.
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Saving the Brighton Beach Range Light
Published by Councillor Rob Lantz on January 10, 2012 in Heritage
The Brighton Beach Range Front Light is a designated heritage resource under the city’s Zoning & Development Bylaw. The lighthouse was built in 1890. It is an iconic symbol of our nautical heritage and provides a scenic shoreline vista that is photographed as much as, maybe more than, any other site in Charlottetown.
Continue reading Here Is How To Do It in Prince Edward Island