Celebrating 50 years of excellence in research and education:
A story of collaboration, persistence and innovation.
In the slideshow below, first presented at the PEEC 2022 conference in March 2022, we describe the story of the BMSC, which has grown as a result of a remarkable collaboration among 5 universities working together to provide a field station on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We share historical photographs from our archive and the first years as the Bamfield Marine Station, highlight how we have grown, and describe our journey and strategy for the future, as we plan for success as a sustainable, world-class research and education facility on the west coast of Canada.
Slide4
The Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre was originally the site of the Pacific Cable Board (PCB) Cable Station, which served as the eastern terminus of the trans-pacific telegraph cable from 1901 to 1959.In 1901 the cable ship Colonia set out from Bamfield to lay a 6,400 kilometer-long undersea cable line, known as the All Red Cable Route. It ran from Bamfield to Fanning Island, situated 1,600 kilometers south of Hawaii, making it, at the time, the longest cable run in the world.The Cable Station was designed by one of British Columbia’s best known architects, Francis Rattenbury. He was responsible for many of the province’s most famous landmarks including: the Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria.In 1926, a concrete cable office building was built below the original building.In 1959, a new cable station was built in Port Alberni and the Bamfield Cable Station was shut down.In 1965 The Bachelors Quarters (large building in the foreground) were demolished, and a number of buildings on the site were burned down purportedly to reduce the taxable value of the property.
Link to pdf’s of the original stories by Bill Austin and Chris Lobban
A very good year for small town marine biologists – by Bill Austin
1972: A very good year for small town marine biologists – by Chris Lobban
This presentation was created and presented by Dr. Heather Alexander
to the PEEC 2022 Conference, March 20, 2022.
Thank you to many photographers including; Ron Long, Oliver Evans, Iain R. Reid, Jeff Reynolds, Heather Alexander, Stella Peters, Lily Campbell, Paul Joseph, Bill Austin, Chris Lobban, and Leya Tess Anderson.