Founded in 2010, the Canadian Lightkeepers Association promotes awareness and understanding of Canada's requirements for staffed lightstations. Specifically, we aim to: [more]

Race Rocks

Race Rocks needs greater protection

Posted Sun, 2011-01-09 21:30
Date Published: 
2011-01-09
Source: 
Victoria Times-Colonist

Changes to the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve because of the coast guard's lighthouse destaffing program and the commercial use of the lighthouse will have an unknown impact on the sensitive marine life.

As president of the Marine Life Sanctuaries Society, I presented these concerns about the marine ecological impact of destaffing lightstations to the Senate committee on fisheries and oceans in December.

Race Rocks.jpg

Stop removing staff from lighthouses, Senate urges Coast Guard

Posted Tue, 2010-12-21 22:33
Date Published: 
2010-12-21
Source: 
Calgary Herald

OTTAWA — Ryan Murphy is more than a lighthouse keeper — he's also the guardian of the marine protected area on Race Rocks, B.C., experienced in search-and-rescue operations, and a curator of data about the area's infrastructure, climate and ecosystem.

It's that kind of knowledge and institutional memory that on Tuesday prompted a Senate committee to urge the Canadian Coast Guard to stop eliminating staff from 50 of the country's lighthouses and instead establish staffing guidelines for those stations through case-by-case consultations.

For Sale: 1,000 Lighthouses

Posted Fri, 2010-07-09 07:02
Date Published: 
2010-07-09
Source: 
Joan Delaney: Epoch Times

Almost 1,000 lighthouses across Canada, including the iconic Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia and Race Rocks in British Columbia, have been declared surplus property.

In May, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced that under the new Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, 480 active and 490 inactive lighthouses—not including staffed light stations—are “surplus to its needs.”

This means that the lighthouses can be purchased by individuals, municipalities, or non-profit groups wishing to take advantage of their heritage designation or tourism potential.

Will the Light Go Out at Race Rocks, off Victoria

Posted Thu, 2010-06-10 10:18
Date Published: 
2010-06-10
Source: 
jack Knox, Victoria Times-Colonist

Here's irony for you: After spending most of 2009 fixing up the 150-year-old Race Rocks lighthouse tower so that it doesn't fall over, Ottawa has decided it doesn't want it anymore.

Or maybe -- probably -- that's an oversimplification. Heaven knows confusion shrouds the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' sudden designation of 976 unstaffed light stations and lighthouses as surplus to needs.

Retired senator Pat Carney says DFO appears to be using a new heritage-lighthouse law -- one that she spent 10 years pushing through Parliament -- to dump unwanted properties.

Doing time on the Rock : Science and encounters with elephant seals all in day's work at Race Rocks.

Posted Fri, 2010-06-04 18:03
Date Published: 
2010-05-02
Source: 
Murray Sager, Special tot he Victoria Times-Colonist

I think I'm prepared: floater jacket, boots, pager, GPS locator, flashlight. It's just before 5 a.m., still pitch black as I clomp down the steps. At the bottom, I stop. Overhead, the sky is clear, with millions of stars in a dome coming right down to the far horizons. I realize I've never before experienced this 360-degree panorama of the night sky. Then I look straight up and see the four beams of light slowly rotating from the top of the Race Rocks lighthouse 30 metres above me.