Trevor Anderson , former Light Keeper at Race Rocks dies at 103

Obituary: Trevor Anderson: James Bay fixture was a lighthouse keeper, sailor and war veteran

It was in the late 1970s that Trev and Flo Anderson convinced us at Lester Pearson College that we should seek some form of protection for the unique ecosystems at Race  Rocks. It was as a result of their urging that we worked to get the Archipelago of islands at Race Rocks  designated as a provincial Ecological Reserve in 1980.


 Link to the Victoria Times Colonist article

For more than 15 years, Trev Anderson was a fixture in James Bay, sitting in his favourite chair on the front porch of his Niagara Street home in his signature black hat, waving, chatting and even blowing the odd passersby a kiss.

In return, Anderson, who died Monday at the age of 103, got to pet all the dogs in the neighbourhood and a chance to taste a sampling of brownies for his sweet tooth.

Those he greeted would have little idea of the colourful life the friendly senior had lived.

That life included narrowly escaping after his plane was shot down in the Second World War, becoming a lighthouse keeper in the early 1960s, and building a 55-foot sailboat to live on board for eight years — despite little knowledge of how to sail.

“My dad was vivacious up to the end — that’s just how he lived life,” said Adrianne Lowden, the youngest of Anderson’s four children with wife Flo (Florence), who died in 2017.

“He was as tough as nails but he also had an incredible sense of humour.”

Trevor Maxwell Anderson was born in Regina, Sask., on Oct. 22, 1920. His family moved to northern British Columbia when he was around six and he spent some of his teenage years in Shawnigan Lake, finally moving to Victoria in his late teens.

He enlisted in 1941, receiving training as a wireless operator and gunner. He was stationed in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Sicily, flying in B-25 bombers attached to the Royal Air Force.

When not operating the Morse code machine, he was responsible for two 50-calibre machine guns in the bomber’s belly.

His plane was shot down on his fourth mission, crash-landing in the Mediterranean Sea — there is a picture of the stricken plane, taken from another plane in the formation, on the wall of his James Bay home.

“Dad told me that the only way out was through a 10-inch [square] window — he remembered kicking it,” said Lowden.

She said that her father can’t recall how he managed to fit through the small opening, as he was wearing heavy gear to keep out the cold and an inflatable jacket as well.

All the crew survived the crash and scrambled onto a life raft. They were picked up by a fishing boat, but the engine died, delaying their return to dry land for three days.

The experience did not deter Anderson from returning to the air. He completed a total of 55 missions, with the usual number for gunners typically running 25 to 30.

It was during his tour of North Africa that he began to write to Flo, his future wife.

In one of the letters, he asked her to marry him — and she accepted. They married in 1944 and the two were together until Flo’s death.

He enlisted with the Air Force upon his return from North Africa, retiring in 1960.

The following year, with Flo and two boys and two girls in tow, he became a lighthouse keeper, initially on Lennard Island, on the southwest entrance to Templar Channel, north of Tofino.

The family became “rock ­hoppers” stationed at various lighthouses, including Green Island, 40 kilometres northwest of Prince Rupert, the ­northernmost lighthouse that was staffed.

In 1966, they were assigned to Race Rocks, where they remained until Anderson retired for the final time in 1982.

While he was on Race Rocks, he got the notion of building a sailboat, though he was a novice sailor.

It took the couple seven years to build a 55-foot ketch — a two-masted sailboat — which they christened WaWa.

They learned to sail, cruising the Gulf Islands and circumnavigating Vancouver Island before heading to the South Pacific in 1985.

“My parents gave us incredible lives,” said Lowden. “My siblings and I had the fortune to grow up fully and share the adventure.”

She said both her parents wrote books about their experiences. Her mother wrote an autobiography called Lighthouse Chronicles about the lighthouse years, while her father wrote The War and I about his wartime experiences, with both of them collaborating on All At Sea about their time on the water.

After their South Seas adventure, they returned to Victoria in 1987, living aboard WaWa for another eight years. After selling the boat, they jumped into a camper and travelled around North America until 1999, when they returned to Victoria.

The couple settled into the 1904 house on Niagara Street that Flo’s parents had originally bought in 1959.

That’s where Anderson would sit on the front porch and greet passerby from his favourite old armchair. Once he determined that the neighbourhood was safe and secure, he would retire for his afternoon nap.

“He was up and about until about two weeks ago,” said Lowden

Since his 100th birthday, Anderson’s children, Adrienne, Beth, Stan and Garry, have been putting up a banner on the front porch saying “TREV, Happy Birthday,” followed by his age.

This week, the birthday wishes were replaced with Bon Voyage as a send-off for a life well-lived.

parrais@timescolonist.com

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In what Ecoregion / Ecosection is Race Rocks Ecological Reserve ?

January 31 2024 is the deadline for public submission of comments on The Draft Framework on Bodiversity and Ecosystem Health

For an understanding of the differences in the many ecosystems in British Columbia and an appreciation of where Race Rocks Ecological Reserve fits in the classification, I have found this good description of Ecoregions and Ecosystems which includes a reference to Race Rocks, and the small percentage of the Ecosection in which it lies that is protected. 

The Evergreen Alliance has produced an important document detailing the current state of protected areas in British Columbia. In the BC Government’s new emphasis on the value of preserving Biodiversity and Ecosystem Integrity, it is interesting to note what percent of various ecoregions of British Columbia are in need of protection to meet the 30X30 goal . 

GPB Ecoregion

The Georgia Puget-basin Ecoregion

From:  An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia

In the OVERVIEW, There is a good definition of Ecosections:

“The Ecoregion Classification System was first adopted by the Ministry of Environment in 1985 to serve as a framework for recognizing small scale ecosystems in British Columbia. The Ecoregion Classification helps us to understand and to depict the great habitat diversity of the province. Since 1985, the Ecoregion Classification has been revised five times to reflect more detailed mapping. The fourth revision Ecoregion units was mapped at 1:250,000 using Landsat, topographic, Biogeoclimatic and marine ecosystem information, while the fifth revision has been mapped based on the earlier concepts plus detailed vegetation zonation mapping. The most current digital (GIS) database is Version 2.1 2006, but the supporting reports and descriptions is the third edition 2011. The Ecoregion Classification system is used to stratify British Columbia’s terrestrial and marine ecosystem complexity into discrete geographical units at five levels. The two highest levels, Ecodomains and Ecodivisions, are very broad and place British Columbia globally. The three lowest levels, Ecoprovinces, Ecoregions and Ecosections are progressively more detailed and narrow in scope and relate segments of the Province to one another. They describe areas of similar climate, physiography, oceanography, hydrology, vegetation and wildlife potential. Within each terrestrial ecoregion, climatic zones occur where specific soils, plant and animal communities and aquatic systems develop because of the interaction of climate with the land surface and surficial materials. These zones are best defined within the Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification system. Ecological zones in marine ecosystems are products of temperature, salinity, sea-bed configuration and water depth. The Marine Ecoregion Classification system should be used to define the marine ecosystems. Each ecosystem is ultimately identified by sampling individual sites. At the lowest level in an ecosystem classification, attention is directed to specific parameters, such as topography, surficial materials, soil development, moisture regime, microclimate, floristics, succession, productivity and animal use. Ecoregions should be thought of as ‘big picture’ ecosystems. As such the province should be viewed first for its big, all-inclusive landscape chunks, then progressively through more detailed levels, and finally each area of the province has to be viewed with other classifications or the underlying geographical detail. The boundaries between units must be thought of in the same way, broad lines for small scale ecosystems progressing to greater precision for the larger scale ecosystems. For convenience, however, one boundary is used to define all ecosystem levels, from Ecodomain down through to the Biogeoclimatic or marine unit level……….

Ecoprovince Subdivisions
From page 47: The Georgia Depression Ecoprovince in British Columbia is subdivided into four ecoregions containing seven ecosections (One of those is a marine ecoregion and three are marine ecosections)…………

on page 53 there is a description of the GEB – Georgia Basin Marine Ecoregion: In British Columbia this marine ecoregion contains two marine ecosections.

GEB – Georgia Basin Marine Ecoregion: In British Columbia this marine ecoregion contains two marine ecosections. o SOG – Strait of Georgia Marine Ecosection: This is a broad relatively shallow, semienclosed estuarine basin that separates southern Vancouver Island from the mainland. It is mainly marine waters, but it also contains several islands. The islands have very dry mild climates, such as southern Quadra, Cortes, Texada, Lasqueti, Denman and Hornby islands. The southern islands and lower portion of Texada Island area dominated by the dry Coastal Douglas-fir Zone, whereas the northern islands and the upper portion of An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 54 Texada Island are dominated by the very dry maritime variant of the Coastal Western Hemlock Zone. The marine environment is dominated by the intertidal, nearshore, epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. 

JOS – Strait of Juan de Fuca Marine Ecosection: This a deep trough marine area with a strong “estuary-like” outflow current. It is the major water exchange conduit between the Georgia – Puget Basin Ecoregion and the open Pacific Ocean. Except for a few islets, such as Race Rocks, most of the ecosection is marine waters. The northern and southern boundaries approximate the outer limit of the nearshore zone; while the eastern boundary in British Columbia is south of Chain Islets & Discovery Island; in Washington it is south of the San Juan Islands and east of Whidbey Island. The southern deep-sea marine portion of Pacific Rim National Park – West Coast Trail Unit occurs in the far northwest portion of this ecosection. ” 

In the Juan de Fuca Strait Ecosection there is .01 %  of the protected areas in BC,  and 5.57 percentage of the area is protected.

Juan de Fuca Strait 0.01 5.57 GPB

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve First Nations Burial Cairns added to the Megalithic Portal

This week a representative of the Megalithic Portal offered to include the First Nations Burial Cairns at Race Rocks Ecological  Reserve on their website.  Below is a link to the entry.  

Darcy Mathews explains his findings on the burial cairns to the Anthropology Class from Lester B.Pearson College

 

 

 


Students from the  Anthropology class at Lester Pearson College accompanied Dr.Darcy Mathews on a field trip and received an explanation about the importance of these burial cairns in 2013.

Index of Articles Published on Race Rocks ER in the Friends of Ecological Reserves Log-1988-2023

ECOLOGICAL RESERVES — NEWS/ARTICLES: 

#97 Race Rocks: threatened loss of keeper — Fall 1996

#97 Race Rocks: marine protected area — Autumn 1998

#97 Race Rocks Marine Protected Area — Winter 2000

#97 Race Rocks news update — Winter 2001

#97 Race Rocks: ER to Marine Protected Area — Spring 2003

#97 Race Rocks: An Unusual Model — Winter 2004
===========================================

VISITS and REPORTS:

#97 Race Rocks — Spring 1988

#97 Race Rocks — October 1989

#97 Race Rocks — Spring 1997

#97 Race Rocks — Fall 1997

#97 Race Rocks field trip — Winter 2005

#97 Race Rocks field trip — Winter 2006

#97 Race Rocks field trip — Spring/Summer 2013

#97 Race Rocks: Pungent to Educational — Winter 2007

#97 Race Rocks Visited — Autumn 2008

#97 Race Rocks Re-Visited — Spring/Summer 2010

#97 Race Rocks Trip — Spring/Summer 2014
===============================================

ARTICLES:

Race Rocks ER: Marine Protected Area — Aut./Win. 2009

Elephant Seal Born at Race Rocks — Winter 2008

Race Rocks: Elephant Seals Born — Spring/Summer 2018

===============================

PROFILES:

Trev Anderson — Autumn-Winter 2020

Pam Birley — Autumn/Winter 2010

=====================================

Link to the Index of publications on British Columbias other Ecological reserves 

 

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve #97 Wardens Report December 2023

Wardens Report by Garry Fletcher.. December 13, 2023

Past Wardens reports may be accessed at https://racerocks.ca/category/er-warden-report/

I got a ride out on the Second Nature vessel of Lester Pearson College. Greg and Cedrick were taking out two technicians to deal with problems with the Solar panels and the diesel engine. 

A herd of California Sea lions who have become accustomed to boats landing at the docks greeted us at the docks.

On the North side of the island there were mainly California sealions. 

The Northern sealions predominated on the south side of the island Their distinctive growl and larger size sets them apart from the California Sea lions 

For the several hours that the technicians were busy in the engine room I could  check out the whole island. Additional solar panels have been added to the array shown in the video below taken from the roof of the energy building/engine room. In the winter the diesel engine has to run for a few hours to help charge the batteries. 

 

From the helicopter pad I observed a very nervous mixed herd of California and Northern sealions that were occupying the area on the West side of the island, preventing me from going in that direction to check out the tidepools. 

Race Rocks must be one of the few outdoor locations in British Columbia where flowers bloom year round because of the surrounding waters never dropping below 8 degrees C which moderates the temperature.

There were many Black turnstones around the island. They are found here year round although they are not known to nest here.

 

 

There has been a high number of gull mortalities this past year. This one is missing the breasts indicating it was a meal for the Bald Eagles. They now patrol the area regularly and this has probably contributed to the low number of overwintering gulls.

The absence in overwintering seagulls at this time of of year  was very obvious. Ined some years they have number in the thousands. The south-west corner which usually is heavily populated only had a dozen of probably brants cormorants, and a small flock of less than 100 gulls was on the north-east corner of the island

While I was there , Greg and Cedrick from Pearson College helped in cleaning gutters, definitely a two-man job for safety reasons, and hauling up some of the logs in the harbour by the slipway for cutting up for firewood. 

SOME WORK YET TO BE DONE: 

Managing a former light station and an Ecological Reserve can be a large job.  Pearson College does an admirable job in fundraising to keep the place going. It is after all the only Ecological Reserve in the province which has human dwellings and a full time Ecoguardian paid for by Pearson College. Since 1997 Pearson College has taken on the role of management of these facilities which require constant upkeep in a very demanding physical and biological environment. I will point out several items below that are needing attention. 

 

This is the last of the old storage tanks used by the coastguard. They await removal. It is just a matter of time until the salty environment encouraging the rust could cause further problems. 

 

Below are some suggestions I would like to make about things that are not urgent but to which attention may be paid in the future. 

The rock wall which was eroded by the hurricane in 2006 Is still in a partly fallen state, contributing to bare soil and erosion.  It wouldn’t take much effort to repair this to improve the stability of the area. ( maybe a student project week item?)

 

At one time the area under these artifacts was covered  with bricks from the original engine room. The bricks are still there but they are now overgrown with grass. Removal of the overburden would improve the appearance of the area. 

 

 

California Sealion

 

 

Trev Anderson , Former Lightkeeper at Race Rocks celebrates 103rd birthday

The Times Colonist reported this week the 103rd birthday of Trev Anderson, former lightkeeper at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve who lives in Victoria, BC.
https://www.timescolonist.com/celebrations/birthday-trevor-anderson-7703934

 

 

The following note was published here in 2020
https://racerocks.ca/the-origins-of-an-ecological-reserve-trev-anderson-turns-100/

Trevor Anderson and Garry Fletcher in the dining hall at Lester B. Pearson United World College: September 21, 1998

Branded Sea lions

Allen & ilka Olsen, Eco Guardians 6 –13 Oct 2023

Fri 13 Oct
Sun AM; cloud PM. Stiff NE wind/swells 12C
Last day; shift change at 1900 when winds calmed. Second Nature not available/smaller vessel used. Began day looking for more branded sealions; 13 in total sent to researchers.

_blur

Observed much humpback activity in Juan de Fuca; 5
confirmed—do they circle back or are there many more? Five ecotours out with them. Before sunup again, streams of cormorants flying by as well as feeding. Sky and water filled with gulls. Three geese encouraged to leave as feeding on tender new grass around keeper’s house.
Filled batteries with water; ran generator. Generator diesel tank brought down and refilled from tank house. Cleared some concrete walkways. Repaired more fencing—endless task. No sealions in compound, whew.
Housekeeping: The usual cleaning for shift change plus wiped down stair railings/moldings & some of the cabinets; cleaned compost bucket. Emptied toilet. Swept downstairs entry.
We had a marvelous eight days! Signing off from this precious spot……ilka & Allen Olsen

Regular checking needed on Sea lion fence

Thurs 12 October Allen & ilka Olsen, Eco Guardians 6 –13 Oct 2023
Fog 0700—Foghorn began sounding at 1000

Allen cleaned windows again in order to be able to observe. Next, checked fence line and righted supports, etc. No errant sealions, yet. Sent observation of branded sealions to US researchers. Noticed a single Varied thrush. Blubber Boy still sleeping in preferred spot; the other elephant sea outside fence seems to not have moved in 24 hrs—small
female? Only two ecotour vessels in am; numerous in pm. Jetty fence down so had to disturb sealions. Allen made repairs. Further observation of sealion behaviour: Steller’s roar; Ca bark—cacophony of vocalization day and night.
Massive mature males are tolerant, even tender, with youngster’s antics (possible offspring?). Youngsters playful in & out of water honing skills. All ages communal stacked side by side or draped & entangled; a few solitary.

Animal Census Oct 9

Sun 9 October Allen & ilka Olsen, Eco Guardians 6 –13 Oct 2023

Mon 9 October
Cloud/sun; breezy
Mended much fencing including rewiring at jetty where numerous sealions had breached. Quite a challenge to get
down ramp to lift blocks up to jetty among bothered sealions. Topped up batteries. Washed windows of keeper’s
house. Much ecotour activity from both sides of border. Cruise ship in. Two trips up tower to count further. Sealions
endlessly fascinating—studying & researching to gain understanding.
5 Harbour seal
497 Gull — 314 on Great Race; 163 on isletss
4 Humpback — probably many more
3 Black turnstone
3 Canada goose
1 Oystercatcher

Animal Census Oct 8

Sunday October  8 Allen & ilka Olsen, Eco Guardians 6 –13 Oct 2023
Warm, sunny, calm seas ~ 18C
Walked fence line; repaired as needed.
From tower:
1009 Sealion
3 Harbour seal

2606 Gull
3430 Cormorant
2 Surfbird
6 Savahna sparrow

Wed 11 Oct CENSUS DAY
Brisk NE wind; 1m swells; cloud/shower; sunny afternoon
Hundreds of cormorants stream by north-facing window before sunup to their daily rock perches.
Hundreds of gulls in feeding frenzy/many immature/~15 immature carcasses observed; 1 sick individual.
Began with walking fence line; a few lines down/another sealion breach/herded back across line.
Blubber Boy still asleep in compound; bestirred with yoga pose then went to derrick crane; not able to breach electri fence so returned to sleeping spot near keeper’s house.
Three trips up tower to again count animals. Allen cleaned solar panels/ residence; windows; filled gas tank.
Sealions intermingle though there are pockets of species-specific. Found 5 branded; will contact scientist:
All mature male California—XI, 303, 9116, 4X6, U92, green flipper tag
Ecotour vessels. Numerous humpback sightings/impossible to count.
1227 Sealion intermingled Steller/California All seem to be male though Cedric reported a single female
2 Elephant seal 3 in total for week
3 Harbour seal
670 Gull
712 Cormorant
15 Oystercatcher
4 Black turnstone
6 Surfbird
10 Canada goose
3 Harlequin duck 8 earlier in week
1 Varied thrush 12 Oct 0930