Cape Beale Light

Lighthouse in British Columbia, Canada

Lighthouse

48°47′11″N 125°12′56″W / 48.78639°N 125.21556°W / 48.78639; -125.21556TowerConstructed1874 (first)Constructionsteel skeletal towerHeight10 metres (33 ft)Shapesquare pyramidal tower with balcony and lantern, central cylinder, slatted daymarks on three sidesMarkingsred tower and lanternOperatorCanadian Coast Guard^[1]Heritageheritage lighthouse

LightFirst lit1958 (current)Focal height48 metres (157 ft)CharacteristicFl WR 5s.

Cape Beale Lightstation is an active manned lighthouse on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

History

The lighthouse was built in 1874 and its focal plane is 51 meters above sea level. The present tower was built in 1958 and marks the entrance to Barkley Sound. It is 10 metres tall. Cape Beale received its name from Charles William Barkley, captain of the Imperial Eagle, who named it for his ship's purser, John Beale. The lighthouse is best known for its proximity to the West Coast Trail which is the theoretical route survivors of shipwrecks would take to get to the nearby community of Bamfield.

From 1971 to 1998, the Cape Beale Light was part of the British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program, collecting coastal water temperature and salinity measurements for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans everyday for 27 years.^[2]

References

^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Southern British Columbia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
^ "British Columbia Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature and Salinity Data (Pacific), 1914-present - Open Government Portal". open.canada.ca. Treasury Board of Canada. Retrieved 2021-02-11.