The tragic death of a 52-year-old Ottawa woman at Vancouver Island’s Long Beach on Sunday has renewed calls to restore lifeguards to the popular surfing destination.
Ann Wittenberg and her daughter Rachel were on a surfboard that got caught in a current over the weekend; Wittenberg ended up in the water, and despite efforts of bystanders and paramedics, she did not survive, according to her other daughter Victoria Emon.
The tragedy happened just hours before Emon was slated to be married.
The RCMP has said the death is not suspicious, and that the coroner is now investigating.
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In February, another surfer — a 24-year-old man — also died in an accident at Long Beach.
Long Beach, a part of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, had a Surf Guard program in place for nearly four decades. The initiative, which employed four seasonal lifeguards during peak tourist season, from mid-June to mid-September, was eliminated due to federal budget cuts in 2012.
At the time, the union representing Parks Canada workers warned that ending the program could be dangerous. The Public Service Alliance of Canada estimated lifeguards performed an average of eight water rescues and made 800 contacts with the public every year.
The nearest BC Ambulance Service station in Tofino is about a 15-minute drive away.
Tofino’s current mayor, Josie Osborne, said she was tied up with council meetings and was unavailable to comment on the issue.
But Tofino Surf School owner Jeff Hasse said the decision to end the program six years ago left locals “slack-jawed.”
“We scratched our heads as soon as it was eliminated, because obviously there is a need for lifeguarding there. It’s such a popular spot for tourists to go to, and the population just triples — quadruples — here in the summer time,” he said.
“I sure hope that there won’t be any more tragedies but with the amount of tourism coming up here, I think there definitely should be lifeguarding systems in place at Long Beach.”
Because it ran from mid-June to mid-September, the former Surf Guard program would not have been a factor in the tragedies involving Wittenberg this week or the other surfer in February.
Hasse said because of the number of surf schools in the area, there are often instructors on the beach with Bronze Cross and Bronze Medallion certification who do their best to provide help where needed.
The Surf Guards have been replaced with signage that warns park users about surf etiquette and the location of dangerous rip currents. Hasse said while those are useful, they are no substitute for trained rescuers.
“That doesn’t mean people aren’t still going to put themselves into, unfortunately, a dangerous situation,” he said.
“The signs can be there, that’s fine, and it lets people know, but I think if the Surf Guards are there that would lessen any sort of chances anyhow.”
Mike Carroll works at a Tofino surf shop and has spent years surfing in the area.
He said during the winter months, most of the surfers populating the area are highly experienced. But he said come summer, the area is flooded with tourists.
“There’s a lot of people that come out here with their families and they’re just here to have a good time. But I feel like a lot of people also forget that there are risks that come with extreme sports like surfing,” he said.
He noted that conditions on the beach — such as the location of sandbars and dangerous currents — are constantly changing and having trained professionals on site would reduce the risk, particularly once the water becomes crowded.
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“If there’s going to be a higher volume of people in the water, having somebody there who can help out right away is probably better. Especially with the possibility of having more than one incident at one time, that can be a whole ‘nother story,” he said.
There have been three drowning deaths in the Pacific Rim National Park reserve over the last decade, according to Parks Canada.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said the Surf Guard program was ended in 2012 because surfing is no longer centralized in one beach on the west coast of the island, and “it was no longer in step with evolving surf and water recreation practices in the area.”
“Since it is not feasible to provide Surf Guard services over such a dispersed area and time period, Parks Canada has partnered with Ucluelet and Tofino to raise awareness of water hazards through the CoastSmart program.”
That program, launched in 2016, works to “educate people on the dangers of tides, unexpected waves, the power of rip currents, and the debilitating effects of cold water.”
Parks Canada’s website warns visitors that all beaches in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve are unsupervised, and that anyone using them is responsible for their own safety and should exercise extreme caution while in the water.
While Hasse said he’d prefer to see the Surf Guard program reinstated, he said visitors should also be prepared for the conditions.
He recommended anyone planning on surfing the area take a lesson, and said that locals are a great source of key safety information such as which beaches are safe or what conditions are dangerous.
He also said anyone testing the waters should keep in mind they’re on the wild West Coast.
“I think people just getting a little too close to the water, especially if they’re not strong swimmers. … The ocean can change in a blink of an eye. Know your limit and play within it.”
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