34 WINGS | March/April 2015 WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTO: PAUL DIXONfood chain. The Atlantic coast suffered the
heaviest toll, especially the southeast coast
of Newfoundland, leading to the creation
of Canada’s first aerial patrols in 1968 over
the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The program
was expanded in 1991 and in March 2014
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced
that funding would increase for the NASP
over the next five years to enable a pro-
jected 75 per cent increase in flying hours.
The Morning Salute checks out and we
head further up the west coast of Vancouver
Island to check the site of where a tug boat
sank off Tofino two days previously. The
two crew had been rescued, but there are
concerns about the fuel on board, though
on this day there was no evidence of any
oil in the area. There is a long history of
shipwrecks along Canada’s Pacific Coast,
with a popular theme being that there is at
least one wreck for every mile of coastline
and that is only the known wrecks. Public
attention is riveted on the infrequent big
events such as the Russian container ship
Shimushir that was adrift off Haida Gwaii
in October after losing power at the height
of a Pacific storm and attention is focused
on the potential environmental impact
by increased tanker traffic through the
Port of Vancouver and new oil terminals
proposed for Kitimat. The problem today
is not the off-shore pollution – which has
been drastically curtailed by international
awareness, off-shore patrols and advances
in marine architecture – it’s the chronic
pollution that comes from wrecks, aban-
doned vessels and industrial wastes. While
the primary focus of the NASP is marine
pollution, maritime safety and hazards to
navigation are high on the list of priorities
as well.
The site of the tug sinking is clear today,
but the potential for damage to the new
economy is readily apparent when flying
over the area. Long Beach has become a
major year-round tourist destination. The
towns of Tofino and Ucluelet were built on
logging and commercial fisheries, but to-
day they have refocused to serve the inter-
national tourism boom. There may well be
a shipwreck for every mile along this coast,
but there is also a windswept, sandy beach
around every headland. While the com-
mercial fisheries are hanging tough, fish
farms have proliferated up and down the
entire coast and there are dozens of fishing
lodges catering to the upscale market. It
doesn’t take a large oil spill to have a huge
impact on any one of these businesses.
There are several historical wrecks along
the B.C. coast that the NASP monitors on
an ongoing basis. The B.C. ferry Queen Of
The North sank off the north coast of B.C.
in March 2006, with 220,000 litres of die-
sel and 22,000 litres of lubricating oil on
board, as well as any fuel on the vehicles car-
ried on board. While the oil slick at the time
was described as “contained” and leakage in
years following described as minimal, resi-
dents of the nearby first nations community
of Hartley Bay have complained about the
impact on local marine life which in turn
has a significant impact on their economic
well being and way of life.
The NASP played a critical role in assist-
ing the U.S. Coast Guard in the response
to the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the
Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and flew almost300 hours between May 1 and July 15
Providentially, TC had participated in a
major training exercise hosted by the U.S.
Coast Guard where mutual aid had been
a topic. The NASP was the primary aerial
asset during this period and was used to
determine the actual extent of the spill,
identify fresh oil and direct recovery teams
to the heaviest concentrations of oil.
In Canada, the NASP aircraft have pro-
vided assistance to a number of govern-
ment departments including DND and
DFO, as well as the RCMP. The NASP
played a critical role in the apprehension of
the suspected killer of three RCMP officers
in Moncton, N.B. in June 2010. The Dash 8
was able to use its sophisticated sensor suite
to assist in the manhunt. The infra-red sen-
sor in the MX-15 camera system was able to
identify a heat source in a specific location.
The satellite communications system was
utilized to stream live video from the air-
craft into the RCMP command post, while
an RCMP member on board the aircraft
was able to provide additional communica-
tions via secure radio.
As we were approaching Vancouver at
the end of our day, we had been listening
to a drama unfold in the frigid waters off
Jericho Beach in Vancouver. Coast Guard
radio was in an extended dialogue with
the volunteer rescue boat from the Jeri-
cho Sailing Club. The rescue boat, a small
RHIB with a single crew member, had re-
sponded to a windsurfer in distress some
distance from the shore. While the rescue
boat got the now hypothermic victim to
shore and waited for an ambulance, Coast
Guard radio was now calling on Channel
16 for any vessel in the area to assist with
a second windsurfer in distress and there
was no response. Transport 951 advised
the Coast Guard that we were five minutes
flying time from the scene and would re-
spond. With no lifesaving capabilities per
se, the discussion on board centred on us-
ing the infra-red and video to locate the
victim in the water and be able to direct
any responding vessel. The situation was
in hand by the time we passed overhead
and we carried on to land at YVR.
The day ends as it begins, with the four
team members debriefing their mission.
The discussion goes around the table, with
two questions asked – what went well and
what didn’t? Then it’s time to write the
reports and forward information as neces-
sary. For the visitors, the day went by in a
flash and it’s difficult to comprehend the
area covered in such a seemingly short
time. For the MART unit, it’s another day
at the office and they’ll be back to do it
again tomorrow in the big red bird, with
one simple message for would-be pollut-
ers: We are here, we want you to know we
are here and please be sure to tell all your
friends. | WMART members Bob Whitaker (standing) and Owen Rusticus (seated at the console) go about their duties on a
typical flight.