West Coast Guardians: The Lighthouses and Lightkeepers of British Columbia, Canada

Each morning at 0300 hours, every day of the year, another workday begins for the keepers of British Columbia's 35 staffed lightstations. From the tide-ripped waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca north to the wind battered Alaska Panhandle, and along 500 miles of tortuous coast in between, 70 keepers and their families continue a tradition of lifesaving, weather reporting and environmental monitoring that began almost a century and a half ago. And despite radio aids to navigation, automatic equipment, and 'space-age' technology, today's lightkeeper remains the true watchman of a coastline no less dangerous in 1996 than in the days when schooners and steamships navigated it's rock strewn shores and passages.