Just 50 of Canada's lighthouses -- including Entrance Island near Nanaimo -- are still staffed by keepers. As the Coast Guard tries to automate those few staffed beacons, and declares close to 1,000 lighthouses 'surplus,' some wonder if the remote and romantic life of lighthouse keeper is at an end

For 134 years a handful of hardy souls have made their home on tiny, windswept Entrance Island. In all that time their job has been largely unchanged: To maintain the lighthouse, provide navigation assistance to boaters and aid people in distress.