A witness to a tragic is calling on Parks Canada to reinstate lifeguards at Lovekin Rock within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
Vancouver resident Darleen Saxer told the Westerly News she was at Long Beach when the tragedy occurred and saw two surfers pulling a person out of the water near Lovekin Rock as bystanders raced to assist prior to paramedics arriving.
鈥淢y heart goes out to the family鈥 just really hope to see some sort of change to make it more welcoming to every level of surfer to the beach,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that could change somebody鈥檚 life forever.鈥�
Saxer said she did some research after witnessing the incident and learned about the rescues and tragedies that have occurred at Lovekin Rock, including two people who died in the area in 2018 and four people who were rescued off the rock via helicopter in 2019.
Surf Guards had been stationed at a tower overlooking Lovekin Rock for 40 years before budget cuts in 2012 prompted Parks Canada to cancel the program.
鈥淚鈥檓 actually really surprised that a National Park doesn鈥檛 have a lifeguard on duty, especially at such a hot tourist location,鈥� Saxer said, noting the Park Reserve sees over one million visitors a year. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of shocking.鈥�
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve superintendent Karen Haugen told the Westerly News via email that Parks Canada is 鈥渄eeply saddened鈥� by the tragedy, noting that BC Ambulance Service, Parks Canada staff and off-duty doctors, who were bystanders at the time of the incident, all responded to the scene.
鈥淥ur hearts are with the family and friends of the victim,鈥� Haugen said.
She added though that the Surf Guard program will not be returning.
鈥淧arks Canada does not have plans to reinstate the surf guard service. Surfing is an activity that takes place year round in the Long Beach Unit and surrounding region. It is not sustainable to provide extensive supervision,鈥� Haugen said. 鈥淧arks Canada strives to educate visitors about ocean hazards and prevent tragedies from occurring. Water users are responsible for making informed decisions about ocean safety.鈥�
She said Parks Canada has continued to expand its efforts to help visitors make informed decisions about ocean safety through education and prevention measures including, monitoring environmental conditions every day, determining the level of risk, sharing the information with visitors, and implementing risk reduction tactics like closures, if needed.
鈥淒uring the summer months, this information is also shared by a team of Coastal Stewards. Coastal Stewards were working at Lovekin Rock at the time of the incident actively sharing information about ocean hazards with visitors,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hrough the CoastSmart program鈥攄eveloped in collaboration with the Districts of Tofino and Ucluelet鈥� standardized signs have been installed at key beach access locations throughout the Pacific Rim Region, including Lovekin Rock. There is additional signage at Lovekin Rock related to rip currents as it is a high-risk area.鈥�
The Park Reserve also launched an Indigenous Junior Guardian program last year that provides safety information to visitors and more information about staying safe around the ocean is available at www.coastsmart.ca as well as the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve鈥檚 social media channels.
Saxer said surfing is booming in popularity, especially with its arrival as an Olympic sport and that the Park Reserve needs to do more to help keep its growing number of visitors safe.
鈥淚t needs to change. Knowing the risks, it鈥檚 hard to allow myself to go back into the water but I can鈥檛 imagine letting my children eventually go into the water and surf and there being this risk,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he (Junior Guardians) are doing their very best in terms of educating the population and the National Park has put up signs, but are people really stopping, looking at these, reading the stuff or understanding what is being told to them?鈥�
She said it鈥檚 impossible to know whether a lifeguard could have prevented Aug. 7鈥檚 tragedy, but added that Parks Canada鈥檚 response that the area is too large to provide Surf Guards misses the mark because the Surf Guard tower that was in place until 2012 overlooked the area of highest concern at Lovekin Rock.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating. It鈥檚 very frustrating,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have done more research on it and the response from Parks Canada is just not acceptable. There needs to be more change and it needs to happen now. If we wait seasons upon seasons for anything to come back or any changes to be made, it鈥檚 going to be too late. How many more deaths do we need to have before change actually happens?鈥�
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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