Cape Beale Lightstation is an active manned

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

., Canada.

History

The lighthouse was built in 1874 and its

focal plane In Gaussian optics, the cardinal points consist of three pairs of points located on the optical axis of a rotationally symmetric, focal, optical system. These are the '' focal points'', the principal points, and the nodal points. For ''ideal'' ...

is 51 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The present tower was built in 1958 and marks the entrance to

Barkley Sound , image = Fishing boat in the Broken Group Islands.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Barkley Sound , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , locat ...

. It is 10 metres tall. Cape Beale received its name from

Charles William Barkley Charles William Barkley (1759 – 16 May 1832) was a ship captain and maritime fur trader. He was born in Hertford, England, son of Charles Barkley.Imperial Eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of the ...

'', who named it for his ship's purser, John Beale. The lighthouse is best known for its proximity to the

West Coast Trail The West Coast Trail, originally called the Dominion Lifesaving Trail, is a backpacking trail following the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It was built in 1907 to facilitate the rescue of shipwrecked survivors ...

which is the theoretical route survivors of shipwrecks would take to get to the nearby community of

Bamfield Bamfield is a community that is surrounded by Crown Land, First Nation Lands belonging to the Huu-ay-aht Nations, and portions of the Pacific Rim National Park, located on Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The community, with ...

. From 1971 to 1998, the Cape Beale Light was part of the

British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program The British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program is a sea surface temperature and salinity monitoring program on the Canadian coast of the northeast Pacific Ocean. The program is administered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and regroups 12 ...

, collecting coastal water temperature and salinity measurements for the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and sc ...

everyday for 27 years.

References

External links

*
Aids to Navigation
''Canadian Coast Guard''
Cape Beale LightstationBamfield, British Columbia

Lighthouses completed in 1874 Lighthouses completed in 1958 Lighthouses in British Columbia Heritage sites in British Columbia Lighthouses on the Canadian Register of Historic Places {{BritishColumbia-lighthouse-stub

History

See also

References

External links