Another Lighthouse Threatened

From the pages of The Daily in Australia comes a little story about the Bribie Island Lighthouse (front range), Queensland, being another threatened by erosion. Unusually violent storms, winds, flooding are taking their toll on this and other lighthouses from Canada to the US; to Europe to Australia. According to the story, massive sand losses due to the tides and weather have pushed the ocean’s edge up to the base of the lighthouse. Fears are that Pumicestone Passage will be sealed off with a sandbar. The Australian Environmental Protection Agency claims that because this is a “natural occurrence” it will not step in to help. What?

Location, Location, Location

Those three words are what all realtors tell you are the most desirable facets of a property. And lighthouses have certainly been built following that dictum. They’ve been built in the worst places on earth. They’ve been subject to the vagaries of the weather since the time the first lighthouse, the Pharos of Alexandria, was built. They’ve been put at the edges of cliffs, both rock and sand. They’ve been placed on rocks or ledges in the middle of nowhere. They’ve been put on barrier islands regularly hit by hurricanes. They’ve been placed at the edges of vulnerable beaches.

So is global warming the cause of all this erosion? The cause of lighthouses like Sankaty Head or Belle Toute having to be moved further inland? The reason that Bribie Island and Sand Island are disappearing?

No.

The Natural Cycle of Mother Nature

Whether or not you believe in global warming as a man-made phenomenom, there is no denying a climate change is affecting our planet. But is this what is causing all these problems for our beloved beacons? And who should be responsible for protecting them from the elements?

Oceans rise and fall. Waves erode sand and rock. The Great Lakes go through cycles of high water and low water. Earhthquakes, volcanoes and storms reshape the land. Droughts will come and go. Floodwaters inundate lands and then recede. Why would we blame global warming for something that has gone on for eons? It’s the natural way of the planet.

However, because we’ve seen fit to build lighthouses at the very edge of Mother Nature’s fury, we need to ensure that they don’t fall victim to the natural erosion that has been ongoing since the beginnings of time. But whose responsibility is it?

The Government Or Us?

While the governments of the countries are the usual builders of lighthouses, they have also abandoned them in favor of enhanced technologies for navigation. While that may be wrong, most of the governments also have to prioritize their budgets, and sadly, lighthouse preservation falls far down the list. While it may be shocking that the Environmental Protection Agency in the story referenced above won’t do anything about the erosion, the question truly is, is why should they? It is a natural process.

Perhaps the governments can kick in money, but it really falls to the lighthouse loving public to dig into their wallets and purses and contribute to save them. Yes, there are so many worthy causes and we can’t support them all, but surely a dollar or two will help. There isn’t anyone that doesn’t like lighthouses.

The New Lighthouse Keeper

One of the most popular search terms that brings people to these pages are those looking to become lighthouse keepers. Sadly, the job is not available as in the old days. But what is available is the lighthouse keeper of today, to preserve and protect our history, our lovely night beacons. Do not look to the government for support, look to yourselves and become the next generation of lighthouse keepers.

The Lighthouse

Against the termagant waves of night
A lighthouse solid stands
And with its ever searching beam
Seeks out the fragile craft of man

Its mission is to point the way
That those who sail might see,
And know whereat the land doth lie
Beyond what seems an endless sea.

I know that in this modern age
With sonar, satellite and blips,
A lighthouse seems of other times
No longer meant for sailing ships.

Yet in a wild, tempestuous gale
With howling winds and darkest night,
There is no known technology
As welcomed as that faithful light.

When we have crossed millenium’s gulf
And find ourselves so far from land,
I pray that we will not be lost
And that the lighthouse solid stands.

©1999 Rod Nichols

We can do no less than to make sure that solid lighthouse remains standing.

Photo Credits:

• Beachy Head Lighthouse by Howzey. Some rights reserved.
• Bribie Island Lighthouse Lighthouses of Australia All rights reserved.

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