Chrome Island off the southern tip of Denman Island in Georgia Strait, a mile east of Vancouver Island near Deep Bay. SCO 8029
Nestled in the northwest corner of the Strait of Georgia, Chrome Island Lighthouse marks the southern entrance to Baynes Sound, bounded by Vancouver Island and Denman Island. The island was first labeled Yellow Rock on navigational maps around 1860, in honor of the unusual light-colored sandstone that glows golden in the setting sun. On that sandstone pre-historic people carved curious shapes and figures, the widest variety of petroglyphs (including these puffins) to be found on the West Coast. Some scholars speculate that these drawings record battles of the Pentlatch people. Others hypothesize they hold some religious meaning, perhaps depicting offerings to the spirit Gods. Former keeper Barry Shaw put it this way, “You just can’t help but wonder. It may be graffiti. It may be the story of their lives.” In 1989, the skeletal tower was brought down and replaced with the current tower, a round fiberglass model topped with a lantern that exhibits a white light every five seconds. The light still ranges with a light on the opposite end of the island. By 1920, mariners, complaining that the fixed light could be mistaken for a farmhouse or a ship at anchor, were asking for a new light on Chrome Island. Construction of a steel tower supporting a wooden cupola began in March 1922 amidst heavy winds and rains. When finished, the new tower’s revolving light produced a flash every six seconds in place of the former steady light. Yellow Rock was renamed Chrome Island around 1940 to lessen confusion with Yellow Island in Discovery Passage. Now Chrome Island Light Station faces a storm of its own, as the Canadian Coast Guard has repeatedly threatened to de-staff it. Public outcry from mariners, floatplane operators, and those dependent on the vigilant work of the lightkeepers has so far kept this from occurring.
Size: 6272px × 3902px
Location: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, BC, Britsh Columbia, Canada. North America.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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