Our Busy Coast Guard
What Happens at the Coast Guard
By Rosalinde Compton
What happens at the Coast Guard Facility in James Bay? I walk by there almost every day and notice the coloured bouys and piles of chains in rows but never knew what really goes on in there. It's a big and busy place with a variety of functions and buildings to house them on the other side of that chain link fence.
Captain John Palliser, Superintendent Marine Search & Rescue, invited some of his neighbours to a tour and I was one of them! The Coast Guard Station has programs featuring technical, operational and maritime services to support the fleet of ships that carry out duties on our BC coast. For example, Environmental Response (ER) provides preliminary action in the event of an oil spill; Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) monitors shipping; Search and Rescue (SARS) offers training for staff and auxilliary members (including advanced first aid and navigation skills); and Marine Communications & Traffic services (MCTS). And in addition to this facility, the Coast Guard shares space at the Institute of Ocean Sciences at Pat Bay and between them they cover the distance from Washington State to Alaska as well as off-shore booms.
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